Why shipping industry

Ocean Finance, an Athens-based business development and consulting firm that operates across the maritime and energy sectors, may have a solution to the problem. In partnership with Cimarron Composites, an American advanced composite structure manufacturer, Ocean Finance is building a carbon-fibre tank that is up to 90 percent lighter than conventional tanks, borrowing technology and techniques from the aerospace industry. It can also be retrofitted to store liquefied hydrogen, a fuel considered to be the greenest solution for the shipping industry moving forward.

The advent of autonomous technology in the shipping industry poses a series of legal and ethical questions. Not all in the same boat Such moves are imperative for an industry that accounted for approximately 3. The IMO wants the maritime sector to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 percent by compared to levels. At the beginning of the year, it imposed new regulations that limit the sulphur content of marine fuel to 0. Only ships equipped with exhaust gas cleaning systems are exempt from the regulation.

Many think the target set by the IMO is unrealistic given the relatively short time frame in which shipowners will have to adjust to the change and the disparities in regulation across different jurisdictions. In Europe, for example, regulations are deemed to be too strict, harming the competitiveness of EU-based firms.

Any new ships we order in the next few years will almost certainly be LNG-capable… [But] the shipping industry will not be able to solve this [problem] on its own. For an industry notorious for its aversion to change, ditching carbon fuel will be highly disruptive.

When container shipping appeared in the late s, it revolutionised the sector by creating unprecedented economies of scale. Companies transporting crude oil from the Middle East to the manufacturing powerhouses of the developed world thrived, but the demise of fossil fuels now threatens to unravel these global supply chains. In , fossil fuels accounted for more than a third of the cargo transported by ships globally.

With commentators earmarking peak oil — the hypothetical point at which global oil production hits its maximum, before falling into terminal decline — to be reached within the next two decades, a significant portion of the sector may face an existential crisis.

More interestingly, we see the product mix shifting. With the growth in refining in the Middle East, we see more demand for product and chemical tankers, which appear bright spots for shipping. All hands on tech One way the industry can adjust to the new era is by embracing automation.

Autonomous cargo ships have long been touted as the next big thing, combining cost-efficiency with green credentials. As with driverless vehicles, the advent of autonomous technology in the shipping industry poses a series of legal and ethical questions, from liability to insurance costs.

We see no reason as to why autonomous technology for shipping will be markedly different. As of , the total value of the annual world shipping trade had reached more than 14 trillion US Dollars. Each year, the shipping industry transports nearly 2 billion tons of crude oil, 1 billion tons of iron ore the raw material needed to create steel , and million tons of grain.

These shipments would not be possible by road, rail or air. Such raw materials allow countries to create industries, construct cities, house and move populations, and transform resources into refined products for re-export.

This ability to add value drives prosperity, and enables developing countries to scale up. Large volumes of other key products such as chemicals, refined fuels and manufactured goods are also shipped by sea. To support world economies, shipping has developed highly sophisticated logistics chains delivering just-in-time parts and goods to manufacturers and consumers. Brand Solutions. Video series featuring innovators.

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