Bunker prices have risen sharply and ships are spending longer at sea while avoiding conflict zones, prompting calls from an engine monitoring specialist for closer attention to marine engine performance.
Sources indicated on 28 September 2026 that bunker prices have increased by 76% since the US war on Iran, and that an ageing fleet making longer voyages is adding pressure on operators. The report relays advice from engine monitoring specialist CM Technologies (CMT) that ship managers and crews should scrutinise engines more closely if they want to rein in costs.
CMT warned that the cost environment and operational changes are combining to put engine performance under renewed scrutiny. The company framed closer engine oversight as a practical response to higher fuel bills and extended steaming times.
Rising bunker costs
The 76% rise in bunker prices cited in the reports item is presented as the immediate financial trigger for the renewed focus on propulsion efficiency. CMT set out the link between fuel expenditure and the imperative to maintain engines at effective operating standards.
Ageing tonnage, the report says, is making longer passages to bypass areas of conflict, which in turn increases hours on engines and the opportunities for wear to affect consumption and reliability. Ship managers and crews are being urged to factor these extended duty cycles into maintenance and monitoring routines.
Engine monitoring and maintenance
CMT, identified in the report as an engine monitoring specialist, advised that closer attention to engine behaviour can help reduce costs. The firm argued that monitoring and proactive management of engine performance were central to responding to the combined pressures of high fuel prices and longer voyages.
The report does not prescribe specific technical measures but frames the issue as one of operational priority. It places the onus on those responsible for ship operation to reassess how engines are run and maintained in the new cost environment.
Ship managers are further encouraged to ensure crews are equipped to translate monitoring insight into practical adjustments during voyages. The reports piece presents CMT’s advice as a call for tighter oversight rather than a one-size-fits-all prescription.
For the wider industry the report highlights the interaction between geopolitics, market-driven fuel costs and the mechanical realities of an ageing global fleet. CMT’s recommendation, as conveyed by the news item, positions engine attention as a cost-management tool amid these converging pressures.
The report of 28 September 2026 serves as the immediate source for these assertions and the advice attributed to CM Technologies. It presents the rise in bunker prices and longer voyage times as the context for CMT’s guidance to ship managers and crews.