Current geopolitical uncertainty has created ‘challenges’ as well as ‘unexpected opportunities’ for shipping companies, the CEO of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), Takeshi Hashimoto, has told a panel at the headline conference of London International Shipping Week today (17 September).
‘It is quite sad because in the past 25 years we worked really hard to establish this global shipping network, which was an enabler for the globalisation of the global economy. Nowadays we’re facing quite serious challenges,’ he told an audience of around 600 people at the International Maritime Organization’s headquarters in London.
‘Fragmentation is costly for everyone,’ he emphasised.
Hashimoto also insisted on the importance of seafarers, which he described as ‘critical’ particularly given current recruitment challenges.
Evolving security threats
Speaking on the same panel, Professor James Henry Bergeron, Political Advisor to the Commander, NATO Allied Maritime Command, spoke of a ‘paradigm shift’ in the nature of threats to maritime security in the past four years.
While attention was previously focused on non-state actors, he argued that this changed with the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. ‘This is a different era,’ he told the audience, pointing out the situation in the Red Sea and potential challenges in the Pacific.
Asked about cybersecurity threats, Bergeron added that ‘the cyber challenge is very real.’
‘Commercial shipping sector has been aware of this,’ he explained. ‘The threat is understood. Adapting has been uneven.’
The cost of regulation
Commenting on the decarbonisation challenge, Nikolaus H. Schües, CEO and Owner of Reederei F. Laeisz, and Immediate Past President of BIMCO, highlighted that ‘regulation comes with a cost.’
‘Regulation is challenging the way we do things,’ he added. ‘If not it wouldn’t be necessary.’
While acknowledging that unknowns about the technology direction that the industry will take and the potential to scale up new fuels create a ‘challenging environment’, he argued that ‘the cost of not moving will be significantly higher than the cost of moving.’
He also insisted on the importance of the IMO Net-Zero Framework, which is scheduled to be adopted by the organisation’s member states next month, in fostering investment in decarbonisation technology. ‘We want global regulation and not fragmented regulation.’
The Headline conference continues this afternoon (17 September).
Image: ship.energy
