Maritime Industry Briefing: Energy Supply Chain and Grid Resilience in Focus

## Maritime Industry Briefing ### Critical Minerals Supply Chain: Antimony Shortage Raises Strategic Concerns A growing focus on domestic critical minerals supply is drawing attention from both government and industry stakeholders, with antimony emerging as a key vulnerability in the United States' strategic supply chain. According to PR Newswire, Nevada-based NevGold Corp. (TSXV: NAU | OTCQX: NAUFF) is advancing a brownfield project in Nevada aimed at addressing what the company describes as 'America's antimony gap.' With a 20,000-metre drill programme currently underway and a maiden antimony-gold resource estimate targeted for Q2 2026, NevGold is positioning itself as a near-term domestic supplier of the critical mineral. Antimony is used in flame retardants, ammunition, and increasingly in energy storage technologies — all sectors with direct relevance to maritime defence, shipbuilding, and port infrastructure applications. The United States currently relies heavily on foreign sources for antimony supply, a dependency that has drawn scrutiny from Washington amid broader efforts to secure domestic critical mineral supply chains. For the maritime sector, which depends on flame-retardant materials and advanced battery technologies for vessel construction and electrification initiatives, developments in domestic antimony production warrant close monitoring. --- ### Port Energy Security: SDG&E Strengthens Grid Ahead of Summer Demand San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) has announced a series of measures to bolster grid resilience ahead of the summer 2026 season, a development of particular relevance to the Port of San Diego and surrounding maritime facilities. According to PR Newswire, the utility is entering the high-demand period with infrastructure improvements backed by years of targeted planning investment. The announcement includes rate reductions and California Climate Credits designed to ease energy costs for customers — a factor that may benefit port operators and marine terminals managing significant electricity loads. As West Coast ports accelerate shore power adoption and cold-ironing infrastructure to reduce vessel emissions at berth, reliable and cost-effective grid supply becomes increasingly critical to operational continuity. SDG&E's grid strengthening measures reflect a broader trend across U.S. port regions, where energy utilities are investing in resilience to support both industrial demand and the electrification of maritime operations. --- *These developments, while originating outside the core shipping sector, reflect supply chain and infrastructure trends that maritime industry professionals should track as the industry navigates decarbonisation, electrification, and strategic resource security challenges.*