Year in Review: 23 highlights of 2023 at a glance

In the face of challenges, the industry once again demonstrated unwavering determination, utilising innovative technological advancements, and engaging in collaborative initiatives to address the 3Ds of shipping – Decarbonization, Digitalization and Diversity. Nonetheless, industry does not forget that safety is of paramount importance and human factor lies at the heart of its operations. In that regard, many initiatives took place during 2023 that brought positive change and empowered a new mindset for the industry’s dynamic landscape.

2023 has the potential to be marked as a pivotal year, where crucial decisions set the course for the path leading to 2030; this is a year for the first assessment of shipping that will reveal our progress towards a more sustainable shipping. Until then, let’s find out where we stand!

#1 Calls for maximum security in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden

A series of alarming events unfolded in the Red Sea, highlighting increased security threats to maritime vessels. The sequence began with an unsuccessful drone attack on the VLCC Nissos Kea on October 24th, followed by the armed seizure of the Galaxy Leader vehicle carrier on November 19th, a drone attack targeting the VLCC Pratika on November 21st, and the seizure of the Central Park tanker in the Gulf of Aden on November 26th. These incidents prompted maritime entities such as Gard, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), and others to advocate for heightened security measures. The situation intensified with a missile strike causing a fire on a Norwegian tanker on December 12th, followed by additional attacks on vessels on December 13th. The maritime industry is on high alert, emphasizing the necessity for collaborative actions to address the escalating security challenges in the region.

Explore more about the situation in the Red Sea here. 

#2 Panama Canal disruptions impact global shipping

The Panama Canal has been facing a severe drought for the past few months, which has significantly impacted its operation and, as a result, global shipping. The extreme drought forced the Canal to implement water saving measures, reducing booking slot numbers to 25, starting November 3^rd. According to EIA, VLGC rates have reached record highs because of the delays at the Panama Canal. Delays at the Panama Canal have pushed shipping rates higher elsewhere by decreasing the globally available number of vessels as more wait to cross the Panama Canal. Seeing potential in the Canal’s situation, Mexico’s government is reviving a railway between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean to divert traffic away from the Panama Canal. Despite all difficulties, companies seem to hold their faith on the Canal, with new investments underway.  Moreover, Crowley is moving forward with plans to offer LNG bunkering services on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal. Crowley is prepared to offer bunkering and associated port solutions, with a projected start date of 2024. For early 2024, meteorologists and logistics experts expect the Panama Canal drought to persist, although container transport will be less hampered.

#3 How the Israel-Hamas conflict impacts shipping: Last updates

On October 7, the Hamas militant group initiated an unexpected assault on Israel, leading to an immediate and decisive reaction from the state of Israel. In particular, the Israel-Hamas conflict already has evident consequences, with cruise ships diverting to other countries. Since then, administrations and P&I clubs have been releasing warnings for vessels travelling to Israel. For example, the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) issued a ship security advisory to inform that the security level for Israeli ports and territorial waters has been raised to Security Level III. Furthermore, Israeli ports are faced with great uncertainty, resulting in vessels being anchored in the open seas and unable to reach port. Additionally, Israel issued a restriction on vessels carrying hazardous materials (HAZMAT). The situation remains tense, with global forces trying to prevent the worst. Unfortunately, the conflict is far from over, and its extent as well as its impact remain to be seen. 

#4 New agreement ensures 6% pay raise for over 250,000 seafarers

In September, the International Bargaining Forum (IBF) agreed on a 6% wage increase for seafarers covered by the 2024-2027 IBF Framework Agreement. All seafarers covered by the 2024-2027 IBF Framework Agreement, will receive a 6 percent wage increase over the next two years (4 per cent wage and compensations increase from 1 January 2024 and 2 per cent wage and compensations increase from 1 January 2025). According to the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), this responds to over 250,000 seafarers’ serving on more than 10,000 vessels. Furthermore, the 2026-27 pay deal and cost items will be negotiated in 2025.

#5 Various dangers are associated with lithium-ion batteries

The issue of lithium-ion battery fires gained widespread recognition within 2023, prompting the industry to take action in order to address and mitigate this phenomenon. TT Club emphasized the critical dangers of lithium-ion batteries, highlighting that there appears to be a concerning lack of awareness regarding the harmful effects of highly toxic combustion products and their impact on the health and wellbeing of individuals exposed to these gases. In light of an incident that took place during summer, there has been focus on the risks that Li-Ion batteries pose to ships onboard, considering that decarbonization and electrification are increasing the number of shipping goods that contain Li-Ion batteries, from  electric vehicles (EVs) to a wide range of consumer and electronic goods. The global Li-ion battery market is expected to grow by over 30% annually from 2022 to 2030, according to McKinsey. In particular, the incident involved the Fremantle Highway car-carrying vessel that caught fire off the Dutch coast with thousands of vehicles on-board enroute from Germany to Egypt. On 28 July, it was reported that there were almost 500 electric cars on the ship, which was significantly more than originally assumed. Furthermore, a fire on board car carrier Felicity Age in February 2022, led to the vessel sinking in the Atlantic Ocean, along with its cargo of 4,000 vehicles.

#6 OCIMF: Second phase of SIRE 2.0 is now underway

OCIMF has successfully completed the first phase of the ‘four-phased’ roll-out and testing of the digitalized tanker inspection regime, SIRE 2.0, which will replace all existing SIRE inspections for tankers. In August 2023, OCIMF informed that Phase 2 of the transition is underway, with invited programme users testing the entire end-to-end SIRE 2.0 inspection process with minimal support from the OCIMF Secretariat.

#7 Crew welfare issues remain a key concern

In October 2023, latest SAFETY4SEA survey, revealed many mental health barriers as well as that physical wellbeing is the most ignored among other aspects. In particular, the 2023 SEAFiT Crew survey, which is the largest survey on crew welfare conducted worldwide with the participation of 1.6K ships and 19K seafarers, highlighted as a key outcome that the internet plays a vital role for life onboard. Over 70% of the crew members do not experience difficulties in establishing good relationships with their colleagues and rely on high-quality internet access to maintain connections and communicate with their loved ones back on land, a need expressed by an astounding 91% of participants.

#8 Fires on vessels remain one of the biggest safety issues

Even though fire is one of the biggest causes of general average claims on container vessels, and one of the main causes of total losses across all vessel types, Port State Control (PSC) data analysis from the last five years shows that there is a lot of concern for onboard fire safety. In their latest Annual PSC Reports USCG, Tokyo MoU, Indian MoU and Cyprus all found that fire was the most common deficiency area. According to statistics by the P&I Clubs, fires in cargo areas are rare, compared with fires in the engine room or fires originating from an electrical unit. In light of the growing number of fires on cargo ships, a spokesperson for the International Maritime Organization (IMO) said that, IMO will announce new safety standards for those transporting electric vehicles in 2024.

#9 New Seafarers’ Charter launched

The Seafarers’ Charter, launched in July 2023 by UK and France to support seafarer employment protections and welfare. Among others, it requires employers to pay seafarers for overtime at a rate of a least 1.25 times the basic hourly rate and ensure that adequate training and development is provided. Nautilus International recognised the importance of the new Seafarers’ Charter and urged the UK Government to make the Charter mandatory in order to boost its effectiveness.

#10 Piracy incidents in Singapore Straits showed increase in 2023H1

The ICC -IMB Reporting Centre raised concern on the resurgence of reported incidents in the Gulf of Guinea waters and the increase in incidents in the Singapore Straits in its mid-year report for 2023. Sixty-five incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships were recorded in the first half of 2023, an increase from 58 incidents for the same period in 2022. Of the 65 incidents reported, 57 vessels were boarded, four had attempted attacks, two were hijacked and two were fired upon. Perpetrators successfully boarded 90% of targeted vessels. Violence towards crew continues with 36 taken hostage, 14 kidnapped, three threatened, two injured and one assaulted. While considered low level opportunistic crimes, often large vessels transiting through the Singapore Straits remain targeted and boarded, with a significant 25% increase in reported incidents compared to the same period last year in these congested waters.

#11 Hong Kong Convention progresses: Industry embraces the decision, but not without skepticism

In late June, a historic moment for the maritime industry took place as the Bangladesh and Liberia ratified the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (the Hong Kong Convention, HKC), thus allowing it to enter into force. According to the IMO, the HKC will become effective on 26^th of June 2025. Major organizations, including BIMCO and the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), expressed enthusiasm and welcomed Bangladesh’ and Liberia’s decision to ratify the Convention. The International Ship Recycling Association (ISRA) welcomed the Convention as well and urged the ship recycling industry and the legislators to use the upcoming two years to further adjust the HKC-regime.

#12 IMO adopts revised GHG strategy

The long-awaited 80th session of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) took place from 3-7 July 2023, where a revised GHG (greenhouse gas) Strategy was adopted by the Organization, causing mixed feelings amongst industry parties. The revised IMO GHG Strategy includes an ambition to reach net-zero GHG emissions from international shipping close to 2050, a commitment to ensure an uptake of alternative zero and near-zero GHG fuels by 2030, as well as indicative checkpoints for 2030 and 2040. Levels of ambition directing the 2023 IMO GHG Strategy are as follows:

• To reduce CO2 emissions per transport work, as an average across international shipping, by at least 40% by 2030, compared to 2008.
• Uptake of zero or near-zero GHG emission technologies, fuels and/or energy sources to represent at least 5%, striving for 10%, of the energy used by international shipping by 2030.
• To peak GHG emissions from international shipping as soon as possible and to reach net-zero GHG emissions by or around, i.e. close to 2050, taking into account different national circumstances, whilst pursuing efforts towards phasing them out as called for in the Vision consistent with the long-term temperature goal set out in Article 2 of the Paris Agreement.

#13 Industry mobilizes networks for gender equality

On May 18th, 2023, IMO adopted the theme ‘Mobilizing networks for gender equality’ and invited women in maritime and everyone in the maritime industry to celebrate the day on social media using the hashtag #WomenInMaritimeDay. Many companies and organizations have launched initiatives for female workers in the industry. Among the many initiatives, the following are worth mentioning:

• IMO and WISTA launched the Maritime Speakers Bureau to increase the number of women speakers in events.
• Thome Group, together with Hafnia, Anglo American, RightShip, Rio Tinto, and Wilhelmsen launched the Maritime Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Innovation Lab during summer 2022.
• Synergy group announced it provides tailor-made Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to all female seafarers onboard its vessels.

#14 Green Corridors are taking off

As international cooperation is needed, the maritime industry is setting up ‘green corridors’ with coalitions of other ports, container carriers, forwarders, fuel suppliers and other stakeholders in order to make supply chains sustainable.

• In late February, Global Spatial Technology Solutions (GSTS) announced its collaboration with the Montreal Port Authority (MPA) in providing a Green Shipping Corridor capability using their Artificial Intelligence platform.
• In March 2023, the United States of America, the Republic of Fiji, the Republic of Panama and the Pacific Blue Shipping Partnership announced their intent to engage in technical cooperation to help facilitate the establishment of green shipping corridors.
• On March 15th, California and Japan signed a letter of intent with the aim to establish green shipping corridors.
• As Global Maritime Forum informed, a new consortium will explore the options for developing a maritime green corridor for the zero-emission shipping of iron ore between South Africa and Europe.
• On March 23rd, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by DFDS ferry operator, the Port of Dover, the Port of Boulogne Calais and the Port of Dunkerque to work together to decarbonize maritime trade in the Dover Strait.
• The Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Shanghai and key leading cargo owners announced the development of a Green Shipping Corridor Implementation Plan Outline, to accelerate emissions reductions on one of the world’s busiest container shipping routes across the Pacific Ocean

#15 Philippines approves bill to protect seafarers’ rights

The Philippines’ House of Representatives voted for a bill that seeks to protect the rights and interests of Filipino seafarers, ensuring that they have “full protection”. The law called Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers sets out labor protection terms for seafarers before, during, and after employment, especially in the event of maritime accidents, epidemics, or pandemics, or other natural or man-made crises. The bill mandates that the standard employment contract, or SEC, shall be reviewed and approved by the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) to ensure that the contract stipulations adhere to or protect the rights of seafarers as laid down in the measure.

#16 Major shipping carriers unite to improve safety of cargo

In late February 2023, Safetytech Accelerator launched collaborative technology acceleration initiative with Evergreen Line, HMM, Lloyd’s Register, Maersk, the Offen Group, ONE (Ocean Network Express) and Seaspan as Anchor Partners aiming at reducing cargo fires and losses overboard. The Safetytech Accelerator Cargo Fire & Loss Innovation Initiative (CFLII) is a collaborative technology  acceleration program that will help tackle the issue  through shaping joint requirements, identifying  technology solutions, undertaking carefully designed trials  and developing best practices and recommendations.

#17 Black Sea Grain Initiative extended

On 14^th March, the United Nations and the Russian Federation agreed on the extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative by 60 days which is half the number of days agreed when it first expired in November. The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres,  confirmed that the UN will do everything possible to preserve the integrity of the Black Sea Grain Initiative and ensure its continuity. However, in July 2023, the deal expired,  after the Russian Government didn’t extend it.

#18 Wakashio report released after three years grounding in Mauritius

Three years after the incident, the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) published in July 2023 the results of its investigation into the grounding of the Wakashio bulk carrier that ran off the coast of Mauritius, concluding that the accident was ”most propably a result of human factor’’. AMP’s investigation report also highlighted that the most probable cause of the accident was that the Master did not see the risk during the vessel was passing 5 miles south of Mauritius. In September 2023, the Japan Transport Safety Board (JTSB) also released  its investigation report concluding that MV Wakashio ran aground due to altering its planned route and approaching the coast to pick up mobile phone signals, showcasing low safety awareness.  To remind, the bulk carrier MV Wakashio ran aground off Mauritius early in the evening of 25 July 2020, attracting significant media attention for several weeks following the occurrence, as fuel oil started leaking from the vessel in the environmentally sensitive region and adverse weather conditions impeded proper response.

#19 New IMO Sec-Gen in Chair

The IMO Council has appointed Arsenio Antonio Dominguez Velasco of the Republic of Panama, for an initial 4-year term as next Secretary-General, as of 1 January 2024, subject to the Assembly’s approval. The IMO Assembly unanimously approved (30 November) the decision of the Council at its 129th session (C129) to appoint him to the role. Lim pledged to work with Dominguez Velasco to ensure an orderly and successful hand-over and, in what he called a “symbolic act of transition and succession” and handed a comprehensive briefing paper to Dominguez to assist him in his preparation for the role of Secretary-General.

#20 Mandatory bunker measuring systems in ARA ports

Port authorities have taken an important step toward improving transparency and reliability in the ARA bunker market by agreeing to mandate the use of a bunker measuring system (BMS) for bunker supply vessels operating in Rotterdam, Antwerp and Zeebrugge. The decision came after an independent study, through interviews and surveys, undertaken by CE Delft for all three ports. During the first half of 2023, the port authorities identified suitable bunker measuring systems and determined the date on which the obligation to bunker with a bunker measuring system on board bunkering vessels will enter into force in Antwerp and Zeebrugge as well as Rotterdam.

#21 Underwater noise progress welcome, but more action necessary

The Clean Arctic Alliance welcomed the progress made by the IMO to address the impact of underwater noise from ships on marine wildlife. In January, The IMO Sub-Committee on Ship Design and Construction (SDC 9) agreed draft revised Guidelines for the reduction of underwater noise from commercial shipping. The revised guidelines have updated technical knowledge, including reference to international measurement standards, recommendations, and classification society rules.  However, the NGO highlighted that the ‘IMO must now prioritize the development of action, including binding measures which will lead to rapid reductions in underwater noise, globally and especially in the Arctic.’

#22 The EU council adopts the FuelEU maritime initiative

In July 203, the EU Council of the European Union adopted the FuelEU maritime initiative to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from the shipping sector. The main objective of the FuelEU maritime initiative, as a key part of the EU’s Fit for 55 package, is to increase the demand for and consistent use of renewable and low-carbon fuels and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from the shipping sector, while ensuring the smooth operation of maritime traffic and avoiding distortions in the internal market. The new regulation contains measures to ensure that the greenhouse gas intensity of fuels used by the shipping sector will gradually decrease over time, by 2% in 2025 to as much as 80% by 2050

#23 Using Starlink internet onboard is becoming a new trend

Developed by SpaceX, Starlink, is a satellite internet constellation using a low Earth orbit to provide high-speed internet access to remote and underserved areas globally.  In November 2023, Hafnia announced the rollout of the Starlink Satellite System across its entire fleet by the end of 2023, becoming the fourth shipping company to use the technology in the last two months. Starlink is now up and running on 35 Hafnia vessels, with a full roll out across all Hafnia vessels currently being deployed and expected for completion by the end of 2023. Apart from Hafnia, other major shipping companies such as Hapag-Lloyd, MOL, and Maersk, have started using the technology, in an effort to provide their crews with better connectivity