Viking Holdings announced on Friday that its Viking Astrea hydrogen-powered cruise ship has been floated out at Fincantieri's Ancona shipyard in Italy, moving the vessel into water for the first time for final construction and interior outfitting. Delivery is planned for May 2027, followed by the ship's first Mediterranean and Northern Europe season. The Astrea is intended to be Viking's second hydrogen-powered cruise ship capable of zero-emission operation, using a hybrid propulsion system built partly around liquefied hydrogen and fuel cells with up to six megawatts of output, which the cruise line operator said could let the vessel operate in environmentally sensitive areas without exhaust emissions during that mode. Sister ship Viking Libra, the first such hydrogen-capable cruise ship, is scheduled for delivery in November. Viking is the only major cruise operator currently confirmed to be bringing hydrogen-powered cruise ships into service.
Oracle Issues Force Majeure Notice on Project Jupiter AI Data Center
Oracle Corporation has issued a force majeure notice on Project Jupiter, its New Mexico AI data center campus, which includes Bloom Energy Corporation's largest single fuel-cell deployment covering up to 2.45 gigawatts within a project expected to involve up to $165 billion of investment over its life. The notice is a financial protection against regulatory delays intended to defer payments if the data center is not operational by 2028, not an indication that Oracle is leaving the project as a tenant, and Oracle told Bloomberg it remains fully committed to New Mexico. Project Jupiter has already faced permitting hurdles, including the New Mexico State Land Office's rejection of pipeline permits in March and again in July, which led Oracle to replace gas turbines with Bloom fuel cells earlier this year. Bloom Energy's exposure is significant and concentrated, as Jupiter represents its single largest deployment within roughly 25 gigawatts of total pipeline visibility, and debt linked to the project has been trading below 90 cents on the dollar. Bloom Energy said its equipment is fungible and can be deployed elsewhere if Jupiter is delayed, while Oracle carries about $89 billion more debt than cash and depends on projects like Jupiter opening on time to support growth that jumps to between 35% and 43% a year.
ORCL · Regulation · Negative Oracle issued a force majeure notice on its New Mexico AI data center after pipeline permit rejections, deferring payments and risking its growth plans.
BE · Regulation · Negative Oracle's force majeure on Project Jupiter, driven by permitting rejections, threatens Bloom's largest single fuel-cell deployment (up to 2.45 GW).
Daimler Truck Urges Europe to Scale Electric Truck Infrastructure
Daimler Truck laid out what it says Europe needs to move battery-electric and hydrogen trucks from early adopters into mainstream fleets, including public megawatt chargers, truck-ready hydrogen stations and road tolls that reward zero-emission vehicles, with CEO Karin Rådström making the case at the company's Media Night in Hanover, Germany, ahead of IAA Transportation 2026. Mercedes-Benz Trucks held about 38% of Europe's market for locally CO2-free medium- and heavy-duty trucks in the first half of 2026, and customers have driven the eActros 600 more than 160 million kilometers since series production began at the end of 2024. Heavy-duty battery-electric trucks took 2% of Europe's market in 2025, and Daimler Truck estimates about 35% of new trucks would need to run on batteries or hydrogen by 2030 to meet EU CO2 targets. Europe has fewer than 2,000 public truck charge points today, most of them standard CCS chargers, and Rådström said it needs 35,000 megawatt charging points by 2030, along with 1,000 hydrogen stations, up from around 187 today, most of which supply only 350 bar. On cost, she pointed to CO2-based road tolls, saying the toll difference between a diesel truck and an electric truck in Germany comes out to about 33 to 35 cents per kilometer, but only 13 of the EU's 27 member states have adopted CO2-based tolls. Dachser chief development officer Stefan Hohm said the German logistics provider has 25 emission-free delivery areas in Europe and more than 200 battery-electric trucks on the road, including more than 160 Mercedes-Benz Actros models, out of a fleet of more than 15,000, and called grid access and capacity the main pain point. The eActros Lowliner opened for orders Sept. 15, with series production at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Wörth, Germany, set for the second quarter of 2027, and a small series of 100 Mercedes-Benz NextGenH2 fuel-cell trucks enters customer operations from the end of 2026 with Dachser as the first customer. Daimler Truck is asking the EU for an early review of its heavy-duty CO2 regulation, whose 2030 target calls for a 43% cut in CO2 emissions from new heavy-duty vehicles compared with 2019, and puts the cost of falling short at about €120 million in penalties for each percentage point Mercedes-Benz Trucks misses.
Energy Transition & Power Demand › Hydrogen & Fuel Cells ▲Regulation
DTG.XETRA · Regulation · Positive Daimler Truck is pushing EU policymakers for public megawatt chargers, hydrogen stations and CO2-based road tolls that would boost adoption of its electric trucks.
Dachser SE · Demand · Neutral Dachser is cited as already running 200+ battery-electric trucks and 25 emission-free delivery areas, but only as a customer example, not a company-specific development.
Johnson Matthey Fair Value Estimate Raised to £28.97 on Cormetech Execution Focus
Johnson Matthey's central fair value estimate has been lifted from about £23.87 to about £28.97, with analyst targets now clustered between £23.30 and £25.00. Deutsche Bank raised its price target on the London-listed company from £24.00 to £25.00, while Jefferies reinstated coverage with a Buy rating and a £23.30 target, saying the focus following the Cormetech acquisition has shifted to execution rather than deal risk. Kepler Cheuvreux moved to Hold with a £24.50 price target, a more cautious stance on upside relative to the updated fair value. The revised valuation reflects a net profit margin change from about 9.83% to about 9.92%, a future P/E move from about 14.4x to 17.3x, and a discount rate adjustment from 8.62% to about 8.54%, while revenue growth assumptions remain at a decline of about 40.09%.