Agenda     Registration     Hotel     Partnerships     Exhibitors     Speakers     Awards     News     Contact

NEW VENUE | NEW FORMAT | NEW IDEAS | NEW OPPORTUNITIES | NEW ERA

Silos are for grain- not for shipping

The legacy model of the shipping industry, starting with the Phoenicians, was one of individual entities.  Each ship acted as its own “silo” with most of them being accountable to the King (or in Cleopatra’s case, the Queen).  As populations grew, and technology advanced to include longer voyages, mergers and acquisitions began to take hold with individuals beginning to own multiple ships (think The Merchant of Venice), but they were still restricted to operating with limited capability to communicate.  Perhaps they could get news back to their home port on a passing vessel heading that way, but mostly information about these voyages only arrived with the ship itself back in its home port.

Modern communications have helped bridge the gap in how ships are managed, and the utilization of AIS means that no ship is invisible.  Sensors on equipment relayed through satellite communications to the home office means that what happens on board no longer stays on board.  There is a wealth of data being made available that could accelerate industry’s capabilities, but due to commercial pressures we are still operating in silos and losing out on the chance to be more efficient and effective in the midst of change.

This lack of willingness means that regulators must step in.  January of this year brought the EU’s MRV (Monitoring, Reporting and Verifying) requirement with the IMO’s Data Collection System coming into force next January.  All is designed to ferret out regulations for reducing GHG’s.  Industry has lost its control of the issue.

Here is a question:  what would the shipping world look like if it established a platform of trust that would enable stakeholders to share information?  How could we construct a system whereby every participant derives benefit?   Blockchain is a prime example of how efficiencies can be obtained once trust has been established.  It effectively links all the “silos” together so there is a foundation of shared knowledge- and benefit.

Leaving the grain in the granary…

Keep optimizing,

Carleen

• ABS invites you to be their guest at pre-conference seminar
• Technology
• Autonomous
• Emissions
• Markets
• Fuels
• Alternative Energy
• Ballast Water Treatment
• SHIPPINGInsight Updates

Smart bill of lading makes first successful trial

2018-08-23 – The first ever blockchain-based CargoX Smart Bill of Lading has successfully completed its historic mission during a trial shipment from China to Europe with the tech company claiming in a release: “The logistics documentation revolution can now be unleashed!”. . . READ MORE

How to handle blockchain going mainstream

2018-08-28 – Blockchain is here to stay – that is the key takeaway after IBM has announced their TradeLens platform for logistics.  By doing this, they have validated blockchain as a good business technology, and also gave wings to smaller, more agile developers of solutions of the industry.  Some of them focus on verticals, while others specialise in specific processes, such as cargo tracking, or documentation handling and ownership transfer (bills of lading, for example). . . READ MORE

DNV GL on Use of AI in Oil and Gas

2018-08-29 – As artificial intelligence (AI) systems begin to control safety-critical infrastructure across a growing number of industries, the need to ensure safe use of AI in systmes has become a top priority. . . READ MORE

Blockchain ventures in shipping: Where we stand

2018-08-18 – Recently, the world’s largest container shipping company, Maersk, and its multinational technology partner, IBM, named their joint blockchain venture, marking another step towards the upcoming transformation of global trade. Blockchain seems to emerge in many industries every day, including the maritime, an industry which has been showing more and more interest in innovative technologies over the last years. But what are the benefits that shipping could take advantage of and how could this new technology boost the industry efficiency?. . . READ MORE

Trends in cyber-attacks for shipping industry

2018-08-18 – The shipping industry is too slow in gearing up to face the cyber risk and deal with the forthcoming regulatory changes around cyber, said Philp Roche, partner of Norton Rose Fulbright in a recent interview posted on the law firm’s website. . . READ MORE

40% consider unmanned ships to be viable within 20 years

2018-08-18 – In Nautilus Federation ‘s survey of almost 1,000 maritime professionals of more than 20 seafaring unions, 40% of serving seafarers believe that commercially viable unmanned ships will be in widespread service within the next 20 years. . . READ MORE

Initial IMO Strategy on GHG reduction: An overview

2018-08-18 – Although it is hard to predict what next years will bring for shipping, discussions at this year’s IMO’s MEPC brought in the spotlight a unified effort towards a more sustainable industry. IMO MEPC 72, which took place during the first week of April 2018, agreed on a target to cut shipping’s overall CO2 by adopting an ‘initial strategy’ as a first step. . . READ MORE

More than 25% of global orderbook fitted with scrubbers

2018-08-27 – The astonishing pick up in scrubber sales has been tallied by Clarkson Research who are reporting one in four ships on order have been contracted with scrubbers. . . READ MORE

Scrubber retrofits see repair yards hike prices

2018-08-29 – Brokers Intermodal are reporting ship repair prices are set to rise on the back of limited berth availability in the run up to the introduction of the global sulphur cap. . . READ MORE

Disruptive technologies drive sustainability in the shipping industry

2018-06-06 – The shipping industry’s operating context will alter significantly over the next 15 years. Cargos and markets are changing, and there are new challenges in global ocean governance, argues Mr. Bjørn Kj. Haugland, Executive Vice President & Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO), DNV GL Group. . . READ MORE

A new type of commodities empire

2018-09-03 – China is playing a brilliant long game at home and abroad, which is hugely beneficial to the dry bulk trades, argues jeffrey landsberg from Commodore Research. . . READ MORE

How the Belt and Road initiative is shaping future freight trade

2018-08-28 – As I prepare for my next public speaking foray into Asia, I was reminded of an earlier article that I had written that pointed ot the demise of 20,000+ teu container vessels.  What many failed to recognise was that the article was not speaking of the demise of shipping, but rather to the changing trends of freight/cargo movement as result of China’s new hub and spoke logistics mix created by pairing ports (maritime silk road) with rail networks (one belt). . . READ MORE

Five new trends in global shipping

2018-07-17 – In their recently-published ISCD report, The Baltic Exchange and Xinhua cite what they believe to be the new trends in global shipping. These include, among others, a shift in new technologies with the emerging concept of intelligent ports, a greater concern for shipping’s environmental footprint with the implementation of green policies, an increased development of Asia-Pacific shipping through ‘Belt and Road’ initiative, as well as the market consolidation trend with alliances. . . READ MORE

World First: Navigator Aurora Converted to Run on Ethane Fuel

2018-08-24 – Navigator Gas, in partnership with Charterer Borealis, engine manufacturer MAN Energy Solutions, cargo system and fuel gas supply system supplier TGE and ABS, has completed the successful conversion of the Navigator Aurora’s main engine from LNG fueling to Ethane fueling, while berthed alongside at Frederikshavn in Denmark. . . READ MORE

Roboethics and the Collision Regulations

2018-08-25 – To paraphrase the British comedian Peter Kay after he tasted garlic bread for the first time, autonomous ships are the future. At least, that’s what many industry participants are saying. I sometimes take these predictions with a large dose of skepticism, while at other times I’m stalked by a nagging doubt that maybe I’m just a cave dweller blighted by limited imagination and simply can’t see what it is the visionaries see. . . READ MORE

Maersk anticipates extra $2bn to its fuel bill come 2020

2018-08-30 – Maersk Line, the world’s largest containerline, has estimated its fuel bill will rise by at least $2bn after the introduction of the global sulphur cap on January 1, 2020. . . READ MORE

Experts Predict A $4/Barrel Crude Oil Boost On 2020 IMO Rules

2018-08-30 – New regulations to curb pollution from the world’s shipping fleet could lift crude prices by $4 a barrel when the measures come into effect in 2020, according to a Bloomberg survey of 13 oil industry analysts. . . READ MORE

ABS Discusses on IMO 2020

2018-09-03 – Shipping industry leaders, joined by Goldman Sachs, discussed IMO 2020 challenges and opportunities at the ABS panel discussion held at the start of SMM 2018. They exchanged their views on compliant fuel availability, fuel pricing spreads and scrubbers shape the conversation at SMM. . . READ MORE

Okeanis Eco Tankers:  Making money from scrubbers

2018-09-04 – At the start of July Okeanis Eco Tankers, owned by the Alafouzos family of Greece, concluded a $100m IPO in Oslo.  The planning of this vehicle’s fleet buildup and IPO could well prove perfect. . . READ MORE

Maersk product tanker retrofitted with world’s largest rotor sails

2018-08-30 – Maersk Pelican, a Maersk Tankers Long Range 2 (LR2) product tanker vessel has been fitted with two 30 m tall by 5 m diameter Norsepower rotor sails in a trial majority funded by the U.K. government backed Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) and involving Maersk Tankers, Norsepower and Shell Shipping & Maritime . . . READ MORE

Blowin’ in the Wind: Five Misconceptions of Wind Propulsion on Ships

2018-08-30 – As the collective maritime industry struggles to find a future proof propulsion system to meet ever stricter environmental emissions mandates from the IMO, serious talk and research is being paid to alternative technologies such as wind propulsion. As shipowners warily eye 2050 and the recent mandate to reduce Greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by that date, it is commonly agreed that the technology to do so does not exist today . . . READ MORE

BWTS manufacturer backs its products with a compliance guarantee

2018-08-31 – Ecochlor Inc. has become the first ballast water management system manufacturer to back its products with a compliance guarantee.  It says that its EcoCare Compliance Guarantee demonstrates its commitment to stand firmly behind its products and services and that the guarantee “not only mitigates risk, but it will provide clients with the assurance they are investing in the best system available today and into future.”. . . READ MORE