The business of ship management is changing alongside with the times, the ways business is taking place and the ship.

The challenges that are incorporated in ship management today are:

– sustainable shipping from an ecological perspective;

– alternative fuels like LNG and biofuels,

– emission reduction of carbon footprints,

– unmanned and autonomous ships,

– big data analytics,

– networks of wireless sensors,

– ship to shore communications; and

– robotics and other artificial intelligence systems.

All the above, while running a business and assuring survival and profit. A hell of a task!

Indeed, the business of ship management is rapidly changing. The technology is to be blamed, the financing of the ships and maybe the shorter life of the ship.

The whole shipping business is going thought change and transformation. The old is replaced by the new, but still the core business remains the same. Which are the implications for the shipowners and the ship managers right now but also for the future?

The whole shipping business is going thought change and transformation. The old is replaced by the new, but still the core business remains the same. Which are the implications for the shipowners and the ship managers right now but also for the future?

The technology used on board of ships and communication between the ship and ashore will alter the managing of the company as a whole since:

  • the terms and practice of the voyage efficiency will be altered, by adjusting the operation parameters and settings to the new norm in order to improve speed & consumption
  • safety has a new meaning, by alerting the crew for any possible upcoming risks or other issues
  • the criteria to define the quality of the crew will be changed; and
  • the ability to control the ship from a central position thus decreasing the number of crew members needed on a ship and reducing labor costs.

The culture of managing all company functions or outsourcing is also affecting the managing of the ships. Emphasis should be placed on the fact that the traditional structure and company organization will not be the same in the future. Some believe that as long the ships are manned there will be the need for ship managers. Ships, semi or fully autonomy, will always be manned, even with joysticks. So, the structure and numbers in companies will not be the same but there will be some kind of hierarchy.

The human factor element will be altered as well, since new specialties will be introduced and other will be eliminated in role and scope, as well and the way they will fit to the existing structure of the shipping company, tasked with overall digital upgrade and the performance of the ship manager.

The technology will improve operations and productivity. Security and safety will be in place as long as technology is used prudently. Digitalization together with decarbonization, is expected to improve business results, by decreasing operating costs while improving the efficiency of operations. It allows for a simplification of procedures and better timing of essential deliveries and maintenance. Decision made need to be in alignment with strategies and operations, and will impact investments. 

At the same time the trade is changing patterns. New Routes and Shipping Trades & patterns, as the Silk Road, Artic Circle, Northern Sea Route (NSR) are expanding the scope. The climate change and the warming up of the plant results the melting of the ice Artic developing new routes open to navigate. Policies and politics, protectionism and all the geopolitical developments affect shipping.

Two questions come in mind:

  1. We go far away from the concept of the 60s and 70s, where the shipowner was the former Captain with core knowledge of the ship. Who will now operate the ship, the Data Engineer and the Data Architect through the neural data networks?  
  2. To be ready for the future challenges, we need to survive the challenges of today. How fit and prepared are we?