The industry will need to fight to attract and retain the new talent we will need to overcome the challenges that it faces, argues Mr. Vassilios Kroustallis.
The shipping industry is in a phase in which it seems that technology transformation is the defining trend.
In some ways this is undeniable: the opportunity offered by big data and better connectivity will make possible short term improvements in shipping operations that may have a direct benefit to the bottom line.
Beyond these interim benefits, the broader technology conversation embraces concepts such as artificial intelligence, 3D printing and autonomous ships as the industry positions itself for a future that looks very different from the situation today.
This technology-driven change might be discomforting – and even disruptive – but we are being forced to recognise that there is much to be gained from new ways of working and new business models.
Shipping faces numerous challenges for which technology can provide decision-making support and remove some of the paperwork and low value processes. Not least of these is the burden of regulatory compliance, which has grown in recent years and will continue to increase in future.
While many of the routines required for compliance remain focussed on the human element, we can expect regulatory reporting and compliance to become an increasingly data-driven process in future. The EU MRV Regulation is the template for this and will quickly be followed by the IMO’s Data Collection System on CO2 emissions. In the future, we can expect more compliance to be driven by the ability to collect and relay information digitally.
Beyond the regulatory drivers, the commercial considerations of vessel performance and optimisation, collection of voyage data and system updates, enhanced ship-shore reporting of hull and machinery status and remote systems analysis will increasingly become the norm for operators who wish to maintain their competitive edge.
But if there is a single misunderstanding about these trends it is that technology alone will be able to solve them. Technology will not resolve these challenges by itself, it will require people. In fact, I think we can confidently say that in order to become embedded as a concept, we must recognise that ‘smart shipping’ requires smart people too.
We hear a lot about declining standards in seafaring today and the risks that flow from lower competence among mariners, but should a smart industry of the future rely on less able personnel to manage the transformation that is taking place – or instead recognise it will require the best and brightest minds we can attract?
I think it has to be the latter. Despite the negative headlines, there is plenty of evidence that high quality owners will continue to invest in training as a means to increase competence beyond the minimum standard required by regulation.
Continuous learning has always been important to the best operators and there is no reason to believe that the increased use of technology will remove this entirely.
The importance of training to safe, high quality operations and improved vessel performance has always been evoked anecdotally – in future it will be increasingly possible to prove this assertion using data.
It becomes increasingly important in the context of cyber security and the need for better training and awareness not just of the obvious threats from human error but of the systems risks in an interconnected world.
People will continue to play a pivotal role in shipping regardless of machine learning or unmanned, autonomous vessels.
In many ways, despite how fast the technology in our interconnected world evolves and how fast we adopt it, the new norm is ultimately about people.
We will need to redefine our needs in relation to skills such as data-driven decision-making, predictive data analytics, systems and design thinking, integration engineering and cyber awareness. As this talent equation is redefined, technology and people will become closely coupled together, creating the need for a new approach to development and management of human resources.
It is not debatable that the smart shipping of the future will need people; they will be essential. But if we want to secure the brains we will need in future, we are going to have to fight to secure them.
Even as we rethink and raise the bar for the talent we seek, we are also dealing with a shrinking global technical talent pool and increased competition from other industry sectors.
With fewer candidates available from traditional talent sources, we will have to look outside our industry and recruit talent from non-traditional sources with non-traditional degrees and look beyond what is required simply to fit a role today.
We find ourselves at a crossroads in terms of recruiting and developing traditional skill sets from traditional sources to work in a more connected and complex shipboard environment.
And as an industry, we need to supplement and complement these traditional skill sets with non-traditional skill sets from non-traditional sources. And we need to do this quickly, to secure the best candidates and to drive the changes we all know are coming and shaping the future winds of shipping.
The views presented hereabove are only those of the author and not necessarily those of SAFETY4SEA and are for information sharing and discussion purposes only.
Vassilios Kroustallis is Vice President of ABS Europe. He is an experienced Senior Vice President with a demonstrated history of working in the maritime industry. Areas of expertise: Strategic Planning, Leadership development, Market research, Marketing Campaigns, Risk Mitigation, Change Management, technical expert on existing ships and new construction of ships. Skilled in Maritime Operations, Classification services, Marine Survey, and Inspection. Strong professional graduated from London Business School and NTUA.
