T

he ocean is the highway of international trade. With more than 90 percent of the world'€™s goods transported across waters, the global shipping industry helps you turn on your lights, cook your favorite meal and even put petrol in your car. But that'€™s not the only contribution the industry makes.

It is also the lifeblood of many local economies. In Singapore, the industry employs around 170,000 people and contributes around 7 percent to the country'€™s GDP while in Hong Kong, the industry accounts for more than 25 percent of the country'€™s GDP. In Philippines, the maritime industry contributes over US$5.2 billion annually to the country'€™s foreign exchange remittance and employs more than half a million Filipino seafarers.

Shipping is one of the world'€™s most important industries and as projections suggest global seaborne trade could double by 2030, its role in driving local, regional and global economic growth will continue to increase.

But it'€™s not all smooth sailing. All eyes are on the environmental performance of the industry and it'€™s facing stricter regulation in two key areas '€” emissions that are directly harmful to society and greenhouse gas emissions that threaten the balance of our planet'€™s ecosystems.

Reducing harmful emissions, such as Sox, Nox and particulates, is being addressed through new regulation which will see a global reduction in the sulphur content permitted in ship bunker fuel from the current 3.5 percent to 0.5 percent by 2020. In emission controlled areas, such as Northern Europe and North America, the lower cap of
0.1 percent will be enforced from Jan. 1, 2015.

The shipping industry is also the only sector with a binding global agreement to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.

Under the agreement, which came into force in January 2013, the shipping industry has to reduce the amount of GHG emitted per ton of cargo transported per kilometer (ton/km) by 20 percent by 2020 and 30 percent by 2025.

These measures are incredibly important for the overall wellbeing of our planet '€” but they'€™re no small ask. Ship owners will need to significantly invest in new technologies, fuels and approaches to meet the standards that are being set.

And the industry is taking action. From the development of emissions abatement technology, the adoption of greener fuel options such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) and ethanol, through to reducing ship power, there are a number of options being explored. The question is '€” does this go far enough?

With trade forecast to continue expanding in coming decades, more and more ships will be required. This poses a bigger question for shipping, and society '€” can we keep growing world trade while improving our overall environmental performance?

I believe the answer is yes '€” but it will require a radical rethink and a collaborative approach.

At this year'€™s Singapore Maritime Week, Lloyd'€™s Register released a report on marine fuel trends to 2030, a report that looked at possible future scenarios in marine fuel trends. It was exciting to see that in the most optimistic of scenarios '€” a world of common interests and effective collaboration '€” seaborne trade would grow but GHG emissions from shipping would fall after 2025. This scenario was predicated on support for the emergence of real change in marine fuel technology.

Exploring these fuel options is key to developing a solution to this challenge but it will not be enough on its own. It'€™s time for a full technological revolution which will require us to look at what'€™s already out there and investigate a completely fresh approach.

This will not only allow the shipping industry to reduce its environmental footprint, it will create overall efficiencies which is good for ship owners'€™ bottom lines.

Larger containerships are creating scale efficiencies requiring specialized understanding of hull structures but, so far, we have yet to see real technological change in shipping.

Looking ahead, we should be looking to a world where voyage information, data from ship structures, components and machinery is centrally collected and used to enhance performance.

This means factoring the design of the ship into the voyage plan to deliver greater efficiencies. For example, rather than avoiding weather, we can optimize routes tailored to capability of the ship so that it is travelling at the optimum speed and optimum times, based on design of the ship, the weather and prevailing currents.

This could open the way for new technologies such as wind power to be utilized more effectively.

It'€™s also about looking at what technology is already out there. Nanotechnology could allow paints, coatings and materials to give signals of performance, enabling us to hear the hull '€˜talking'€™ in the same way that we hear pumps and engines '€˜talking'€™ through sensors today.

Acoustic fibers can detect minute changes in vibrations, meaning that we will be able to sense engines rooms in different ways. We need to be leveraging these existing technologies to their full potential.

These are exciting options to explore but to make them reality, the industry needs to be able to implement them in a way that'€™s economically sustainable '€” and we need everyone to work together to find the right balance.

This will require a change in mind-set and may require people to work in different partnerships and using different skills than those that dominate shipping today. All this could ultimately lead to a fundamental change in the skill sets required by ship builders and class societies, like Lloyd'€™s Register.

These questions and challenges are what make events like next year'€™s Sea Asia so important. The event, which will be held during Singapore Maritime Week on April 21-23, will bring together leaders from across the industry and around the globe to look at, debate, analyze and argue these critical issues in hope of developing effective solutions.