The Future of the Shipping Industry
by Published on 12th October 2022 10:46 AM
The shipping industry is carrying a significant portion of world trade and is rapidly changing and evolving to fulfil commercial marketplace requirements. Technological advancements, materials, and fuels affect the vast and complex logistics and shipping container industry. While talking about environmental pollution, the shipping industry is always in focus. Still, revolutionary green projects have changed the scenario by ordering new ships with dual-fuel advancement without emission, making them more competitive and cost-effective. Talking about the future of the shipping industry, we can observe the emerging technologies that are scaled up and streamlined into the adherent ecosystem. It is shaping a better future for the maritime industry across the world.
According to the United Nations Conferences on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the average growth rate of the shipping industry is around 3.8% per year from 2018 to 2023.
Trends determining the future of the industry
The 5 major trends which are dynamically changing the shipping industry and creating new opportunities are:
Digital Censoring
The ship operation monitoring technology and performance are rapidly evolving, which ensures that future ships are equipped with a complete sensor network to determine the operations, like detecting faults and identifying the portions that require maintenance. The robust ship-to-shore communications are increasing, which can be operated by a land-based fleet manager’s team.
Green Shipping
The shipping industry holds a bad name for generating environmental issues, which put constant pressure on the sector to reduce its carbon footprint and achieve zero emissions. The shipping fleet is coming up with new technologies, which include low carbon fuels, more streamlined hulls, efficient propeller design, enhanced voyage planning to save energy, advanced hull coating, and air cushion, which reduces friction.
Use of LNG (Liquified Natural Gas)
The growing interest of industries in LNG as commercial fuel for commercial shipping is believed to help operators to meet the requirement of reducing the emission and being cost-effective simultaneously. It reduced the carbon footprint by 25% as compared with diesel engines. The use of conventional oil-based fuel is dominating; there is still an increase in the LNG adoption for specialist vessels which catalyzes the opportunities for the industry to develop on a larger scale.
Adoption of Solar and Wind energy
The shipping industry is also trying hands-on renewable energy to power the fleets. Some of the technologies are already tried and tested. The Turanor PlanetSolar is powered by 29000 solar cells, and the operation was highly successful. Using this technology in commercial shipping will reduce the consumption of fuels by supplementing the existing power supply with wind turbines and solar panels.
Bigger Megaships
The advancement in ship technology, structure, and material is leading to bigger mega-ships, especially in the container ship sector. MOL Triumph is the largest container ship in the world which measures 400m long and carries 20,150TEU shipping containers. The manufacturers will take advantage of vessels’ low transportation costs by increasing production.
What is the future of the marine industry?
In the future, ships will be powered by the green ammonia fuel cell system, wind-assisted propulsion technology, and the complex digital guidance system that will compile and analyze the most fuel-efficient routes. The future is filled with vast mega-ships with LNG as fuel and onboard carbon-reducing technology. The ships will reduce their carbon footprints despite the big size.
Now, the question is which companies will control the shipping industry. This indicates that fewer companies decide the rate of innovation and efficiencies for rolling out port handling. Technology has the power to change even the most traditional sector. The availability and the use of technology like autonomous ships, drones, big data, and blockchain will combine to enhance the supply and demand of the shipping industry. It is also responsible for the decisions of exporters, importers, port operators, and shipping lines in the future.
The shipping industry is expected to proliferate in upcoming years, even after facing many geopolitical and commercial uncertainties. The concentration of port capacity, shipping lines, and technologies are some catalysts that can bring about change in the shipping industry.
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