The three top concerns in the latest International Chamber of Shipping survey are the effects of rising geopolitical tensions, increasing regulatory demands and cyber security risks, where both the use and compatibility of IT are now almost always a necessity.
According to senior executives, shipping firms need clearer regulatory controls, better co-ordination, both nationally and internationally, and increases in investment. This will impact the variety and number of maritime careers in a shipping industry that is trying to enjoy a future where growth and profitability are real achievements.
Geopolitical Issues
Lack of reassurance in a politically uncertain world is the main concern amongst shipping firms and their representatives, according to the ICS’s recent survey. The impact of rerouting, rising insurance costs and challenges in finding the ideal crew in this changeable employment market, are all causing problems operationally.
Dramatically, some are saying that reshaping trade relationships and trade routes may be leading to increased costs for the shipping industry and the economies dependent on them, which could possibly lead to a global recession.
Security in the Sector
Cyber-attacks have found themselves a major concern, which underlines the Maritime Sector’s dependence on Information Technology. This is affecting navigation, cargo management and communication systems primarily.
The effects known as GPS Spoofing, Signal Jamming and Ransomware Attacks are all making lives ashore and at sea dependent on rigid IT controls, although most contributors have said that increased cyber security investment is ever more crucial.
Regulatory Standards
Compliance to new environmental and digital demands is often introduced without the necessary expertise to make the most of the new stipulations. Smaller operators are more commonly affected to a greater degree, by such regulations.
Confidence in their ability to steer through a period, where green technology is the primary concern to regulatory bodies, is often cited as troubling, by the maritime sector in general.
Particularly concerning are the effects of changing timelines for inputting regulations, ways of enforcing mechanisms designed to drive a modern industry and coordinating reporting regulations tied to the IMO’s new Greenhouse Gases targets. There are also concerns about global unification of abilities to reach the regulations in place among shipping fleet owners in all parts of the world.
Conclusion
Public purses are seen as not sufficient when it comes to funding clean fuel infrastructure, retrofitting and fleet renewal, according to those responding to the ICS’s questions. However most pressing is the lack of governments’ abilities to help with the decarbonization process, and how low confidence is, regarding whether the targets in place can ever be achieved.
The availability of low-and-zero carbon fuels has, in this barometer, taken over infrastructure as the key barrier to investment. Problematic is the fact that even though the demand is apparent, global production and the distribution of fuel supplies such as biofuels, methanol and ammonia is severely limited. As a result, reaching regulatory targets for decarbonization and committing to updating fleets with new ways of propulsion is proving difficult to execute.
Also, issues with the safety standards currently in place, regulatory clarity and cost-effectiveness of alternative fuels, are all making the desire to invest in the sector a less desirable option across the globe.
