Christopher J. Wiernicki, ABS Chairman, President and CEO, discussed the importance of the US to keep on shaping the future of global maritime energy, safety and sustainability. He highlighted that IMO’s challenges for 2030 and 2050 are pushing the industry to new solutions around fuel and operations that are not only environmentally responsible, but also commercially viable, technically feasible and safe—the only way any environmental solution will ever be sustainable.
Mainly, the Chairman speaking at the opening session of the CMA Shipping 2019 Conference commented that the US energy landscape will continue improving technology and safety.
He continued that technology has freed the energy markets and pushes the industry’s stakeholders to aim to cleaner, more sustainable industrial operators.
Moreover, he referred to ABS being an innovator in the industry, focusing on the use of digital technology which he noted as a key enabler to enhancing efficiencies, reducing risk and assessing alternative fuels, new energy sources and new operational strategies.
ABS is focused on making sure that the transition to a low carbon economy is taking place safely. In the meantime he addressed the importance of the ISM code on the digital future.
What will safety look like tomorrow in a digital world or even next week in a smarter more autonomous world? Today, we live in a world where safety in our industry is focused on the systems we see and can touch – the structure, the equipment. Tomorrow, safety will be focused on the systems that we don’t see such as software and data.
… Christopher J. Wiernicki addressed.
In addition, ISM will lead safety. It’s a framework that has the ability to address two important trends:
- The technology will become an even greater safety enabler and drive the safety risk protective frontier;
- Safety will become more synonymous with cyber and digital security and improved reliability.
He concluded his opening by stating that regulators have to understand that safety success and sufficient safety in a shipping 4.0 and low-carbon world is a team sport, in order to collaborate and become collective global safety shapers.
