Maritime Disruptions This Week and What’s Ahead: CW38 Review & Preview
Sep 19, 2025
At Sea Sentinel AI, our mission is to cut through the noise so maritime teams don’t have to. We transform vast, multilingual data into actionable foresight for global operations. By processing over 500,000 news articles per day alongside AIS, weather, and specialized data, our platform flags hundreds of relevant incidents that can affect thousands of vessels, enabling a shift from reactive tracking to predictive decision-making and disruption prevention.
Let’s recap three notable disruptions from this week and preview what’s taking shape next, starting with the Review and then the Preview.
Review
Strike in France “BLOCK EVERYTHING”
On September 18, France experienced a second “Block Everything” (Bloquons tout) day of action following the initial mobilization on September 10, with nationwide protests against budget cuts disrupting port operations. Key gateways such as Marseille–Fos and Le Havre saw blockades and slowdowns that drove congestion and operational delays across linked supply chains, consistent with typical strike-driven port impacts tracked by the platform.
Cyclone “MITTAG-25” South China Sea
In the South China Sea, the platform identified Cyclone MITTAG-25 early and tracked its trajectory toward the Pearl River Delta, a critical maritime cluster for container traffic and transshipment . While Hong Kong’s T3 signal on September 19 triggered only preliminary measures, internal models indicated a broader operational risk envelope and correctly anticipated disruptions and likely suspensions at major Guangzhou-area ports, including Shenzhen (CNSZX), Yantian (CNYTN), Shekou (CNSHK), and Chiwan (CNCWN) .
Storm in the Aegean Sea
Earlier this week, the system flagged a significant Aegean weather event ahead of wider reporting, aligning with its weather-to-operations forecasting approach. Greek authorities later imposed a September 19 sailing ban for ferries from Piraeus, Lavrio, and Rafina, and the platform assessed a high probability of delays for broader maritime traffic—including container vessels—due to unsafe berthing conditions and knock-on congestion risk beyond formal closures .
Preview
As we look ahead, several developments warrant close monitoring given their potential to disrupt port, rail, and marine networks at scale .
Strikes in Italy related to Gaza
The platform is tracking a developing situation in Italy that underscores the value of local-language sourcing and union monitoring beyond international headlines. What initially appeared to be a symbolic national strike on September 22 shifted as multiple base unions joined by September 18 with calls to block goods circulation, explicitly targeting key ports such as Genoa and Venice (Marghera), raising the assessed probability of major disruption across ports, rail, and overland transport .
Strike announcement for October 19
A separate 24-hour, politically motivated strike has been announced for October 19, 2025, at a major European transshipment hub in protest of government foreign policy toward the Gaza conflict, with the potential to halt operations for the duration. Clients can monitor precise location and live operational status in the map-based UI to adjust routings and schedules proactively, or integrate alerts directly via the API for automated workflows .
Cyclone RAGASA-25
Following MITTAG, a stronger system—RAGASA-25—has formed and is tracking a path that could affect much of southern China while posing a direct threat to the northern Philippines, per multi-model guidance and internal impact analysis .
Philippine ports: Currently a tropical storm, RAGASA-25 is forecast to intensify rapidly toward Category 4–5 strength and to pass over the northern Philippines on September 22 with destructive winds, likely forcing a full shutdown of port operations in the impacted area.
South China Sea shipping: Entering the South China Sea around September 23, the storm could reach super-typhoon intensity and force significant route deviations across one of the world’s busiest corridors.
Southern China and Hong Kong ports: Approaching the southern China coast thereafter, RAGASA-25 may trigger preemptive closures across the Pearl River Delta port complex and surrounding terminals. This will likely affect Hong Kong, Shekou, and the major Shenzhen ports.
Conclusion
These highlights represent a tiny sample of the hundreds to thousands of weekly incidents the platform curates, enabling customers to mitigate risk, avoid costly delays, and make faster, more confident decisions across their networks. With the map-based UI, impacted vessels are visible at a glance, while the API offers rapid integration of incidents, passages, and vessel risk profiles into existing systems for automated actioning.
A trial is free—see the platform in action by scheduling a demo or sending an email to julien@sea-sentinel.ai.