As we are counting down the days for Nor-Shipping 2023, we are excited to host an exclusive interview with Nor-Shipping’s Director, Sidsel Norvik, who mentions which innovations will take place in the exhibition, highlighting that this year, the event will focus on the next generation to showcase how academia is adjusting to the maritime transition and what maritime career opportunities are in store.
With regards to maritime transition, Mrs Norvik notes that only if stakeholders join forces and invest in partnerships and transparency, they will address any challenges successfully. ‘’ Partnership is the real fuel of the future’’ she concludes, pinpointing that mutual trust, sharing knowledge, investment and commitment are the key ingredients to speed up the transition.
SAFETY4SEA: What will be the biggest challenges for the maritime industry from your perspective? How these will affect the industry and what are your suggestions for the industry?
Sidsel Norvik: The aftermath of COVID and the war in Ukraine have triggered a great deal of global uncertainty and instability. Anyone operating internationally cannot escape the impact of geopolitical upheaval – despite most of us wanting to get on with building a safe and prosperous world through trade and respectful exchange. The years ahead will of course focus on the environment as we forge a new path towards zero emissions and climate neutrality. It’s a challenging landscape to navigate, but I believe we can get there if we pull together.
S4S: What is new about Nor-Shipping this year? What will be the key issues in Nor-Shipping’s agenda? Are there any initiatives, new additions?
S.N.: The main theme of this year’s Ocean Leadership Conference is #PartnerShip and will bring together high-profile international leaders from the ocean industries and beyond to examine how we can make progress towards our key collective goals while at the same time safeguard individual business objectives. We are launching the first Offshore wind and the first Offshore Aquaculture conference this year, which is exciting, much valued and promising. Ocean Campus is another new addition to Nor-Shipping and is a dedicated island of exhibition booths showcasing some of the world’s leading maritime universities and colleges. Leading Ocean Campus Partner is the World Maritime University (WMU) and other Campus members include the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), BI Norwegian Business School, UiT The University of the Arctic (UArctic), MLA College, Oslo MET, Alba Graduate Business School and SINTEF Ocean and waiting for NUS (National University of Singapore). These universities and colleges represent a solid geographical spread and a wide range of maritime industry competency. Together they will form an Ocean Campus Committee of industry experts to tailor an exciting program for the main Ocean Campus day on Friday 9 June. The mission is to demonstrate how academia is adjusting to the maritime transition and what maritime career opportunities are in store for the next generation. We will stream this event to allow students and next generation shipping employees to get access from wherever they might be.
S4S: Why is it important for industry stakeholders to participate in Nor-Shipping this year? What is the value of the exhibition?
S.N.: The exhibition floor remains the beating heart of the Nor-Shipping week – where delegates and visitors can experience the products, services and companies that will help drive a new age of ocean industry development. A dedicated ‘Hydrogen Zone’ and ‘Offshore Wind Pavilion’ are exciting new areas to check out. There are also the popular Blue Talks and a lot of technical seminars in Hall E. Spiced with a dynamic after-work festival, Nor-Shipping provides an invaluable combination of insight, business opportunities and social networking.
S4S: What are your hopes & aspirations of the event? What plans does the event have to further address industry’s key challenges?
S.N.: In addition to 22,000m2 of exhibition space, a host of social, networking and knowledge sharing activities are planned, including the Ocean Leadership Conference, the first ever Nor-Shipping Offshore Wind and Offshore Aquaculture Conferences, the 2nd Maritime Hydrogen Conference, The Nor-Shipping BBQ, the Fourth International Autonomy Summit, the [email protected] social scene, and much more. Together with our partners, we aim to gather and connect all those who are willing and able to raise standards, push boundaries and shape a positive maritime future. An arena like Nor-Shipping help shape the industry and drive progress.
S4S: Are you satisfied with progress made towards maritime decarbonization so far? What would you like to see up to 2030?
S.N.: The time to move commitments to actions is now! Although a lot of encouraging actions are happening all over the world, progress is way too slow. I think there is a lot of waiting for the future fuel and that will only hold back a lot of great immediate needed actions that can be implemented today. The industry need to work on immediate actions in parallel with the longer term direction.
S4S: Do you believe the maritime industry is moving in the right direction? What do you see as the defining ESG trends driving maritime toward the future
S.N.: I believe transparency, common definitions and reporting of the ESG’s will be key measures to drive the maritime toward a better future. Standardisation and clear procedures will be key in order to form the needed best practice.
S4S: What actions should we take to collectively create an inclusive and attractive industry?
S.N.: To retain its competitiveness and to successfully deal with the challenges headed our way, the maritime industry needs to increasingly work together to retain existing talent and attract new. It is important to equip and educate all current and potential staff people to understand their role in fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. This must be apparent from senior leaders through to line managers and team members. It should be part of any recruitment. We must create and maintain an organizational culture of equity and belonging where everyone has equal opportunities to contribute and to thrive. Data and insight must be reported to evaluate progress and to evolve strategic objectives. Communication of commitment and progress should be done internally on a continuous basis and externally on an annual basis.
S4S: Do you have any projects plans/ ideas/ project related with Nor-Shipping in the long term that you would like to share with the industry?
S.N.: Bringing maritime operations in offshore wind and also offshore aquaculture onboard as conference and exhibitions areas in 2023, will continue to be growth areas for Nor-Shipping going forward. A close eye on the fuel debate and a closer eye on ports is also an area I am very interested to shed more light on towards 2025. And of course our new Ocean Campus that is being introduced this year in an effort to keep pace with the increased need for competency will continue to be a an important part of the Nor-Shipping focus going forward.
S4S: If you could change one thing across the industry from your perspective, what this would be and why?
S.N.: If I could change the gender balance in a heartbeat, I would. This goes for at sea, in management positions and across the maritime industry in general. Our aim is to be part of influencing a significant change and signed the WISTA 40 by 30 pledge and urge those that have not yet signed to do so. Nor-Shipping 2022 still had almost 80% men on site and it was hard to find a gender balanced picture apart from at the WISTA program. I am hoping for and believing in a more diverse 2023 and significant development onwards.
S4S: What is your key message to industry stakeholders that are going to participate in the event?
S.N.:
Be transparent and seek partnership. No single actor can rise to the challenges of the maritime transition alone.
Addressing the evolving needs of cargo owners while juggling unpredictable geopolitical shifts, energy concerns, new regulations, fuel options, attracting talent and much more is a huge task that must be done with the right partners. Only by working together, leveraging individual strengths through collaborative partnerships, can we achieve truly ambitious objectives that are good for business and the planet. Partnership is the real fuel of the future. Accelerating the transition will require mutual trust, sharing knowledge, investment and commitment. This year, we have no less than Joseph Stieglitz to shed light on key geopolitical issues and join in debate with key industry leaders.
The views presented hereabove are only those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of SAFETY4SEA and are for information sharing and discussion purposes only.
