The global maritime industry is undergoing unprecedented transformation. It has become a busier market on every level – with the shaping forces of geopolitics, macroeconomics, digitalisation and decarbonisation looming large over operations, notes Stephen MacFarlane, Chief Information Officer, V. Group.
Recent events including the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Red Sea attacks, the situation in the Middle East and even the droughts affecting the Panama Canal have made clear the fragility and interconnected nature of the global system of trade on which we all rely.
Everyone is caught up in this changing world, including ship managers. But this complexity brings opportunity: the opportunity for ship managers to embrace a new role and act as a compass for customers and the industry at large. Doing so isn’t easy. It requires deep-rooted expertise, adaptive and responsive decision-making, and a proactive, positive approach towards digital technologies.
In fact, it is precisely because of this atmosphere of complexity that digitalisation becomes particularly interesting. The rapid pace of technological advancements across the maritime industry is reshaping the way it operates, presenting both opportunities and challenges.
Digital technologies are now allowing shipping companies to enhance operational efficiency and stability through real-time tracking, predictive analytics and enhanced communication. By embracing these technologies, businesses are also choosing to stay ahead of the curve and mitigate their exposure to market instability and operational risks.
It is for these reasons – and is no coincidence – that shipping’s digital marketplace has exploded over the last few years. In the rush to solve the industry’s biggest challenges, new suppliers and solutions are entering the market each month. Within this landscape, choosing the right, trusted partner can be the difference between competitive advantage and getting left behind.
Amidst this noise, however, companies that can offer a proven track record and comprehensive historical data can provide significant strategic benefits for businesses. In other words, they provide the calm in the storm to navigate the industry’s evolving challenges – something which newer market entrants can’t match.
A deepdive into data
Historical data, when combined with human expertise and machine learning, is a vital part of the decision-making toolkit for shipowners. Consider the data flywheel effect; a perpetual cycle of data collection, analysis, and action that powers continuous innovation. It’s this mechanism that amplifies the impact of data gathered from a vessel, its operational condition, maintenance, people and processes, voyage routing, fuel consumption and weather conditions. This is then combined with machine learning to empower operators to accurately predict future events, saving costs and minimising risks, especially those often associated with human data interpretation.
With increasing regulatory pressure to reduce shipping’s environmental impact, these insights can support the development and implementation of strategies to decrease emissions and optimise energy use.
For example, bringing data to life allows ship managers to evaluate a vessel’s performance at sea, identify trends and predict future performance, enabling a proactive approach to energy management and operational efficiency across a vessel’s day-to-day operations.
The focus on environmental stewardship and the requirement for continuous improvement means the shipping industry is hungrier than ever for deep information on its operations, to enable effective planning, monitoring and reporting.
Make no mistake: this is a fundamentally transformative time for our industry, and an era where data will be the backbone of informed decision-making, laying the groundwork for putting long-term operational stability and sustainability at the core of operations.
The pressures ahead mean that we need to not only change the way our industry operates, but also understand – with verifiable, historic data – the impact of those changes over time. Digital technologies provide a lifeline of stability in a storm of indecision and, most excitingly of all, we are only at the start of the journey in terms of how these technologies and solutions will develop.
For ship managers, it’s the ability to leverage historical data insights, digital technologies and human expertise that will allow them to lead the way and help ship owners manage complexity and change, and inform future outcomes. Software providers or digital technologies alone will not have the scale and track record to foster operational resilience, and propel the industry towards a future defined by efficiency, sustainability and strategic advantage.
The views presented are only those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of SAFETY4SEA and are for information sharing and discussion purposes only.
