The oil and gas sector in Southeast Asia is undergoing significant transformations, shaped by evolving market dynamics, the energy transition, and geopolitical developments. After years of setbacks due to the departure of major international oil companies, the upstream industry in Southeast Asia is seeing a resurgence.

The United States is planning to charge fees on any ship that is part of a fleet that includes Chinese-built or Chinese-flagged vessels arriving at US ports as part of an executive order that the Trump Administration is drafting to rebuild US shipbuilding, according to news reports.

Uncertainty is arguably at an all-time high in ocean shipping with market visibility nigh on impossible. Questions abound but answers are in extremely short supply.

Port of Los Angeles Police Chief Tom Gazsi hailed the Port’s Cyber Resilience Center: “The Port established the Cyber Resilience Center hub here in the Port of Los Angeles which is a service provided to our tenants, customers, terminal operators, steamship lines, rail and trucking operators…”

Report from TPM. The Trump administration’s moves to withdraw support from Ukraine in its war with Russia and not support Taiwan which is facing growing threats from China undermines U.S. national security as nations around the world see the United States as weak and unwilling to support its traditional allies, according to John Bolton, Donald Trump’s former national security advisor.

The decision by the Trump administration to impose tariffs is creating uncertainty within the supply chain, increasing the price of imported goods that could worsen inflation and discouraging US consumers from buying, says Lars Jensen, CEO at Vespucci Maritime based in Copenhagen.

Kristi McKenney, incoming Executive Director of the Port of Oakland, says she will enhance partnerships to help the Port of Oakland grow: “I want to say to all of you (that) the only way we go is in partnership. That is a partnership with everyone in this room. And those who could not be here with us today. It's the businesses that generate that revenue and generate those careers. It is the businesses we … work with every day.”

While the sector remains heavily fragmented and the biggest market share for any single company is estimated as being no more than 10%, what is the outlook for small and medium-sized (SME) forwarders when scale is the prevailing mantra?

In an interview with AJOT, Rao argues that the Trump administration’s criticism of Chinese investments in terminals accessing the Panama Canal misses the point: China is investing in new container terminal operations around the world and the United States is not.

The six shared their experiences at the Propeller Club of Northern California on February 18th and included: Susan Ransom, Stevedoring Services of America, Captain Samar Bannister, California Maritime Academy, Captain Anne Mcintyre, San Francisco Bar Pilots, Carolyn Almquist, Port of Oakland, Leanne Andalis, Pasha Group and Laura Germany, Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA).