This time of the year is always a good opportunity to consider lessons learned and set new year’s resolutions for a new start. Our special column Industry Voices: ‘Goodbye 2020, hello 2021’ aims to provide an overview of this challenging year and set new targets for 2021 to move forward.
In this context, we have asked Mrs. Elina Papageorgiou, LR’s Marine and Offshore President for UK and Ireland, to make an assessment of 2020 from her perspective and share her message for the new year across the global community. Among others, she highlights that an industry-wide collaboration is fundamental to achieve the goal of decarbonization and concludes with a positive message that better days are coming; the newbuild activity will bounce back towards the end of 2021 and there is no question that the maritime industry will come out of this challenging year, she says.
The journey ahead is unlikely to be straightforward or easy, but the agility and adaptability that has been so abundant in the maritime sector in recent months is cause for optimism.
SAFETY4SEA: Focusing on your area of expertise, what were the most important industry development(s) within 2020?
Elina Papageorgiou: The pace of digitalisation has accelerated significantly this year due to the COVID-19 outbreak. This evolution was always expected and the heightened confidence in digital methods has made us all more agile and accepting of the advantages of digital capability. This has also brought us closer together as an industry, given more direct and immediate online access, an important factor as physical attendance was limited. A key area where digital capability made a significant contribution to keeping supply chains open was remote surveys. LR has offered remote surveys for many years but the challenges presented by border restrictions, lockdowns and quarantine meant that they very quickly became a vital service to ensure the safe operation of vessels, offshore assets and crews.
S4S: Focusing on your area of expertise, what do you think that will be the biggest challenge(s) for the industry in 2021?
E.P.: Decarbonising the industry will still be top of the agenda for 2021 and requires immense industry focus as we work together to ensure that zero-carbon vessels are entering the world fleet by 2030. LR’s recently launched Maritime Decarbonisation Hub will support this important transition by bringing together thought leaders and subject matter experts with the skills, knowledge and capabilities to help the maritime industry to design, develop and commercialise the pathways to future fuels, vessels and operational models required for decarbonisation.
S4S: What would be the 2021 resolutions for your company/organisation?
E.P.: From a decarbonisation perspective, industry-wide collaboration is fundamental to achieve this goal and many initiatives are under way with yards, owners and charterers looking at different alternative fuels and LR looks forward to being involved with more of these projects as we continue to evaluate all options in 2021 with a technology agnostic approach. As safety is core to our 260-year heritage and like most of the work we have undertaken in 2020, we will continue to respond to quarantine scenarios and travel restrictions, working with multiple stakeholders, including Flags and Port Authorities, to keep our clients, their people, ships and cargoes safe and sailing. This means prioritising safety and protection of life, as well as rethinking existing procedures and the way the marine and offshore industry safely and securely supports global supply chains.
S4S: What is your overall forecast for shipping industry in 2021 and what would you like to share and/or wish and/or ask other industry stakeholders?
S4S: There is promise of brighter times ahead – there is good reason to hope that newbuild activity will bounce back towards the end of 2021 and there is no question that the maritime industry will come out of this challenging year with extensive learnings and more efficient operations than existed before the pandemic. The journey ahead is unlikely to be straightforward or easy, but the agility and adaptability that has been so abundant in the maritime sector in recent months is cause for optimism.
The views presented hereabove are only those of the author and do not necessarily those of SAFETY4SEA and are for information sharing and discussion purposes only.
