The Black Sea entered one of its most volatile phases as Ukraine and Russia escalated long-range strikes on each other’s critical energy and port infrastructure, leaving commercial shipping exposed to huge levels of risk.

Latest shipping traffic data points toward a rise in Suez Canal transits, with authorities in Egypt hoping the recent truce announced by the Houthis will lead to a full-scale return to normal traffic on the artery connecting trade between Asia and Europe.

The National Transportation Safety Board in the US said Tuesday that a single loose wire on the 300 m long containership Dali caused an electrical blackout that led to the vessel veering and contacting the nearby Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, which then collapsed, killing six highway workers. NTSB investigators said the loose wire in the ship’s electrical system caused a breaker to unexpectedly open — beginning a sequence of events that led to two vessel blackouts and a loss of both propulsion and steering near the Key Bridge on March 26, 2024. The price tag to rebuild the bridge has blown past early projections, with Maryland officials now warning the final bill could exceed $5.2bn and the reopening pushed back to late 2030—a full two years later than originally promised.

This week’s big Maritime CEO interview was with Cédric Girardclos. When former shipbrokers in Geneva teamed up with Swiss research institutions to rethink how chartering work gets done, they didn’t expect the idea to snowball into a full AI platform used by charterers, owners and brokers. But that’s what happened with Precise and its Spotlight system, a tool built to cut through the most time-intensive parts of fixing ships.

With Red Sea transits showing signs of recovery, this week’s Splash Wrap podcast, carried below, looks at what is a realistic timeline for normal maritime traffic patterns to return in the Middle East and the likely consequences for freight rates.