At Posidonia, we all need grasp the opportunity to listen, learn and work together to deliver on shipping’s decarbonisation, digitalisation and diversity goals
Shipping is changing.
Perhaps faster than any of us can appreciate, our role as an industry is being transformed by the recognition that we have a wider duty to fulfil when it comes to protecting our planet and recognising the ocean as a stakeholder in its own right.
This requires us all to re-evaluate our purpose and our responsibilities – not just to our customers, our colleagues, and our partners, but also to our future generations, to the ocean and to our planet. Shipping has undergone a profound change in mindset in the past two years and I believe that we arrive at Posidonia this year with a renewed sense of purpose, as an industry and as a community. We know what is needed when it comes to our decarbonisation goals. Furthermore, because life on earth is intrinsically linked to the ocean, and on the crucial role it plays in regulating our climate, we know that simply minimising the impact of our activities on the ocean is not enough. We must shape a better maritime world that protects and preserves the ocean, leaving it in a better state than we found it.
These new priorities are being felt at every link in our supply chains and in every facet of our industry, from the bridge to the board- room. As an increasingly visible industry, shipping also faces greater scrutiny from the society, as well as regulators and investors, on its environmental performance. In tangible terms, this means that companies will have to demonstrate their environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials to win
contracts, secure investment and satisfy shareholders. They may be at very different stages and moving at different speeds on their decarbonisation journeys, but it is undeniable that the journey has started.
So we know our destination as an industry. The question for us all at Posidonia is how we get there.
A more complex playing field
We know we are moving away from a world in which nearly all ships use fossil fuels, to a varied ecosystem in which multiple fuel and energy options will coexist – including biofuels, LNG, and eventually ammonia, methanol, hydrogen, and other alternatives. New technologies are emerging to increase efficiency and reduce emissions, from data-driven voyage optimisation tools to wind propulsion, battery solutions, and more.
The maritime sector is fizzing with new technologies, fresh ideas, and innovative solutions. Some of these are the result of decades of industry experience. Others
are inspired by fresh thinking from outside our industry. We need the pioneers and the innovators who have picked up the mantle of shipping’s decarbonisation challenge. But to be successfully and safely deployed, on the right vessels, for the right routes, and under appropriate operating conditions, we need each of these solutions to be rigorously and independently validated.
This is where classification societies can assist. As the maritime sector goes through this transformation, the scope of our work has expanded. This also requires a profouwnd shift in our thinking: now it is our role not just to protect life at sea, ships, and assets, or help prevent pollution, but we must also more actively preserve and protect our blue planet for future generations.
The evolution of class
Throughout its history, class has always evolved, using its expertise and independent position to support progress. This was true for the invention of the shipping container
in the 1950s, and more recently with the integration of LNG as fuel or wind propulsion systems, for example.
By de-risking new solutions, class builds trust between shipyards, shipowners, and technology providers, thereby supporting
the safe innovation that will be necessary
to decarbonise shipping. This in turn, builds confidence of shipping’s regulators, investors, cargo owners and the public at large. Now it is essential that we build on our experience to support further innovations, whether that
is through our new rules for new fuels, or
our expertise in LNG as a fuel, which has an important role to play in the energy transition. Indeed, the LNG supply chain also has a renewed importance in today’s world when it comes to energy security.
There is also an opportunity to broaden the scope of classification to add a much-needed social dimension, most notably around crew safety and welfare standards. Demands imposed on shipping by its downstream customers increasingly include social justice, and class societies can also help their clients deliver on their ESG commitments. This will help ensure that the transition is sustainable for the oceans, but also fair for those who live and work on them.
Progress through people
Shipping is going through a remarkable peri- od of technological change, but we remain a people business, from our remarkable seafarers to our shoreside teams. What is more, I firmly believe that we drive progress through our people and through our relationships. That is just one more reason why we are so happy to be returning to Posidonia this year. We believe that the opportunity to share ideas, to discuss the challenges and to listen to others is vital to how we need to collaborate as an industry if we are to achieve
the necessary progress on the three D’s of decarbonisation, digitalisation and diversity. When it comes to diversity, any industry will perform better when it embraces the full range of talent available to it, and shipping is no exception. We need to put people at the heart of our approach to problem-solving, and more diverse, inclusive organisations will do this far better. We need to attract a wider talent pool and encourage more young people to join our industry and Posidonia offers a great opportunity to showcase what shipping has to offer.Our goal at Bureau Veritas is shaping a better maritime world. We’re working closely with our partners along the entire shipping supply chain to work towards this goal and supporting all our customers on their own decarbonisation journeys.
* Vice President South East Europe, Black Sea & Adriatic Zone, Bureau Veritas