Many companies in the maritime industry have struggled with loss of income and delays in 2020. We had many ongoing membership discussions to join One Sea but, in many cases, decisions have been postponed in order to respond to more immediate concerns.
After a year like no other, TradeWinds asked 40 shipping industry stakeholders what they see for 2021 after a year beset by the coronavirus, and how the pandemic will shape shipping's future.
The Covid-19 pandemic has put the development of new innovations on the backseat for some companies, whereas others have decided to use the time in order to have new products and services coming up when markets stabilise.
We are happy to note that the One Sea members have been dedicated in their approach to speed up the digitalisation and automation of maritime traffic.
We also see an increased demand for new solutions due to the pandemic. The situation has forced many seafarers to stay on board for much longer than originally intended. Outsiders, such as pilots and external service providers, are a contagion risk to ships’ crew and new technologies are needed to keep these kinds of risks at a minimum.
Different remote operations and greater automation can help fatigued crews on board and help keep Covid-19, as well as possible future diseases, at bay.
Although regulation and standardisation work for new technologies has been slowed down due to the pandemic, One Sea will continue to work with the IMO and other international organisations to ensure that the products and services offered can be used safely and globally.
The pandemic may temporarily slow down the deployment of increased automation in maritime traffic but, at the same time, it has highlighted the need for these technologies. We therefore expect the end of 2021 and 2022 to be extremely busy on many fronts.
