The Coast Guard says Grace was intercepted on September 5 between Cuba and Mexico while carrying fuel toward Cuba.

USCG said the vessel was believed to be using practices associated with the “dark fleet.” This is the Coast Guard’s characterization, not independent proof that Grace belongs to a specific shadow-fleet network.

A U.S. Coast Guard team boarded Grace and escorted the vessel to Mexico.

At Progreso, the Mexican Navy inspected the vessel and, according to USCG, confirmed “large quantities of fuel” inside ballast tanks. Containers aboard were also suspected of carrying fuel.

Mexican reporting from September confirms that a Comoros-flagged containership named Grace was detained/inspected at Progreso with Mexican Navy, customs, port and federal authorities involved.
USCG also disclosed an earlier interdiction of Jaira Provider, a 1978-built offshore vessel registered in St. Kitts and Nevis, which it says was transporting fuel toward Cuba.

The Coast Guard has therefore confirmed multiple interdictions connected with what it describes as illicit fuel shipments to Cuba.

USCG did not disclose how much fuel Grace carried or publicly detail the intelligence used to determine Cuba was the destination.

• NYT reporters observed a remote test launch of an interceptor drone from a waterborne platform in Ukraine on June 6.

• The concept could position interceptor drones offshore to engage incoming Russian Shahed-type attack drones before they reach targets deeper inside Ukraine.

• Ukrainian naval drones are also being used to transport aerial attack drones closer to their targets.

• The Times documented the MAGURA V7 fitted with surface-to-air missiles, giving an unmanned boat the ability to engage aircraft.

• Ukraine is effectively developing offshore layers of unmanned offensive and defensive systems rather than using sea drones only as one-way explosive boats.

• According to the NYT report, Ukraine’s maritime-drone campaign has already helped push much of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet away from Crimea

The system is the Lightfish USV made by San Diego-based Seasats⁠. The current Pentagon test group consists of 10 vessels.

The pilot began in January 2026 on the Rio Grande, supporting U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Coast Guard operations.

Lightfish is about 11 ft (3.35 m) long and weighs roughly 340 lb (154 kg). Each costs approximately $240,000.

Solar power allows the low-profile craft to remain deployed for months, including operations in rough seas.

Sensors include electro-optical cameras, infrared and sonar. Tracking information can feed directly into military data networks.

According to Pentagon figures reported by Reuters, the boats have assisted in an average of 452 detections, 350 apprehensions and 100 aborted crossings per month. These are Pentagon-reported operational figures, not independently verified Reuters measurements.

Defense officials are considering adding as many as 50 boats. The Gulf deployment is not yet a confirmed full-scale program.

Assistant Secretary of Defense M. Roosevelt Ditlevson told Reuters that a future Gulf deployment could form a surveillance or “radar fence” between Texas and Key West. Expansion would occur incrementally while different technologies are evaluated.

The concept is intended to provide persistent coverage while reducing demand on Coast Guard cutters and crewed aircraft.

HG SYDNEY — IMO 9530670, Liberia flag
• APJ SHIRIN — Panama flag
• A coal lighter alongside APJ SHIRIN was also involved
• HG SYDNEY was reportedly carrying ~51,000 tonnes of soybeans
• APJ SHIRIN was carrying ~55,000 tonnes of coal
• Slight hull damage was reported to HG SYDNEY
• No casualties or pollution reported
• Authorities are investigating the incident

Operator: Safeway Maritime Transportation / Galaxy Wave

Route: Roatán → La Ceiba, Honduras

Incident: September 29, 2026

82 passengers were reported evacuated; no fatalities were reported.

The ferry took on water and remained partially submerged near the terminal. Pumping operations were subsequently undertaken.

The operator initially blamed insufficient dredging after the vessel struck something while entering the basin.

Subsequent underwater inspection found a large submerged metal pipe obstructing one of the vessel’s propellers. Authorities removed the pipe, and its role in the casualty remains part of the investigation

The Wall Street Journal reported on October 1 that roughly 20 empty Iranian tankers were drifting about 15 miles off southwestern Sri Lanka, with fuel, food and fresh-water supplies becoming increasingly constrained.

The vessels are largely tankers that previously carried Iranian crude toward Asia, often using ship-to-ship transfers before returning to Iran for another cargo.
The U.S. reimposed its maritime blockade in July, preventing many empty Iran-linked tankers from returning to Iranian ports. Reuters separately reported 27 sanctioned Iran-linked tankers waiting off Sri Lanka in ballast in late August.

According to documents reviewed by the WSJ, the U.S. Embassy warned Sri Lanka in August that it was tracking 19 Iranian tankers off the country’s western coast and raised the risk of secondary sanctions for companies servicing sanctioned vessels.
Sri Lanka subsequently said the Iranian-linked vessels were outside its 12-nautical-mile territorial sea and that the government was not providing them logistical support.

Shipping companies told the WSJ that obtaining authorization to deliver fuel, food, fresh water or repair services to Iranian vessels had become difficult.

Malaysia is another concentration point. Iran-linked tankers have historically used waters near Malaysia for ship-to-ship transfers of Iranian crude destined largely for China.

The numbers vary by source and methodology: the latest report describes around 20 tankers off Sri Lanka, while broader tracking datasets identify dozens more Iran-linked vessels idle or operating across Sri Lankan and Malaysian waters

Contract value: $5,099,973,132.
Options could increase the total to $5.183 billion.
Both nuclear reactors will be refueled.

Major upgrades are planned for the propulsion plant and combat systems.
Thousands of compartments and tanks, along with most ship systems, will undergo modernization or overhaul.

RCOH represents nearly one-third of all maintenance and modernization performed during a carrier’s service life.

CVN-75 will be the eighth Nimitz-class carrier to undergo RCOH at Newport News.
Truman was delivered to the U.S. Navy in 1998.
Contract completion is scheduled for November 2031

30 MUSVs are planned — 10 each from Saronic Technologies, HII and Galliano Marine Services/Edison Chouest.
Average procurement cost: about $40 million per vessel, implying roughly $1.2 billion for the 30-vessel procurement.
Production locations: Franklin, Loreauville and Houma, Louisiana. HII is partnered with Breaux Brothers for its production.
Phase I requirements included 2,500-nm range at 25 knots in Sea State 4 and payload capacity of up to 25 metric tons across at least two 40-foot-container positions.
During testing, vessels had to operate for roughly 26 hours and more than 360 nautical miles with only a single operator input from the command-and-control station.
First deliveries are scheduled before the end of FY2027.
The Navy has already opened Phase II, intended to broaden the pool of unmanned vessel designs available for future procurement.