On Apr 20, 2018, the "Inzener Nazarov", enroute from Azov to Samara in ballast, got stuck in severe ice at river km 1998 on the Volga River in the Saratov Reservoir. The vessel was awaiting for the assistance of the icebreaker "Captain Zarubin" of Rosmorport. There was no damage to the ship.

The "Sparkling Line", 119 gt, went adrift after it experienced an engine breakdown, in position 58 40 03N, 04 50 00W, on Apr 23, 2018, at 10.18 a.m. A lifeboat and a Coastguard team were tasked to assist the vessel into a harbour. The f/v "Horizon" proceeded and established a tow. The "Sparkling Line" was towed into Scrabster Harbour at 6.30 p.m.

China’s massive new fully-automated port terminal in Shanghai has opened and will soon ship up to 136 million tonnes around the world every year. Stage four of the Yangshan Deep Water Port began trial operations on Sunday after years of construction and development, and £1.37 billion, aimed at increasing China’s trade dominance. Once fully operational the new terminal will be able to move 6.3 million standard 20-foot shipping containers a year, with the whole £8.5 billion port handling more than 40 million a year – most in the world. The giant new addition covers 2.23 million square metres and has a 2,350-metre shoreline south of Donghai Bridge, which was built to service the port. Automation of nearly all the terminal’s functions slashes labor cost by 70 percent and boosts handling efficiency by 50 percent.

UK ports operator Peel Ports Group and autonomous vessel firm ASV Global recently tested an autonomous shallow-draft survey boat at the Port of Liverpool. According to Peel Ports, it represents the first step in a partnership to explore the use of the technology at its other sites in the UK. For the first test, the ASV-built autonomous boat C-Cat 3 carried out a multibeam echosounder survey near Brocklebank Dock, a terminal on the River Mersey north of Liverpool. The demonstration was successful, and Peel Ports is exploring the possibility of further uses for the survey technology. It has signed a formal MOU with ASV that will give the autonomous systems developer access to other Peel Ports facilities for further testing.