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International shipping has the potential to undergo an evolution with developments in autonomy—these developments present opportunities to both increase safety and reduce risk to vessel operations. Zulu Associates, a Belgian company which describes itself as an innovator in marine logistics and focusses on smaller vessels, expects to put small autonomous container ships into the English Channel or Southern North Sea by 2026. In an interview with TradeWinds, the CEO of Zulu Associates, Antoon Van Coillie, indicated that shipping insurance markets are cognizant of autonomous systems and ships. He asserted that financing would not be an unsurmountable barrier, since financial institutions are especially interested in vessel sustainability.

In 2021, the global autonomous ships market had a revenue share of over 89 million USD, and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.81% through 20311.Continue Reading Big waves: global autonomous ships market on the rise

In our October 2021 blog “Possession as we (don’t) know it!”, we discussed the existing position under English law in respect of electronic trade documents and the scope for reform in light of the Law Commission’s consultation paper and draft legislation “Digital assets: electronic trade documents (2021) Law Commission Consultation Paper No 254”, published on 30 April 2021.
Continue Reading Solving the ‘possession’ problem – Law Commission publishes draft legislation for the legal recognition of electronic trade documents

Early results from our 2020 shipping survey – Navigating a post-COVID world indicate that industry participants believe more transparency is needed to tackle the impact and challenges caused by the pandemic.

66% of respondents so far indicate that transparency and sharing of information might be key to the shipping industry emerging stronger from the crisis.…

In these unprecedented times of global shutdown, the shipping industry has been forced to move rapidly into the digital age. Vessels still require their statutory surveys and the clock does not stop just because the surveyors are unable to fly out to a vessel. This has forced flag states and Recognised Organisations (ROs) to develop their own procedures for remote surveys/inspections.

Remote surveys/inspections were already in use before COVID-19 – Lloyd’s Register performed one in five of its surveys without attending the ship – but their use has increased considerably. In March 2020 the number of complex remote surveys performed by Lloyd’s Register increased by 25 per cent. As resources continue to remain limited, remote surveys/inspections will be an increasingly utilised tool from the suite of options available to flag states and ROs.
Continue Reading Remote surveys – the future?

How ready is the shipping industry for data and digital technologies?

We are conducting a short anonymous survey to discover whether the shipping industry is embracing the digital age. Through collecting responses from companies representing the industry across different sectors and geographies, we’ll be looking to analyse how prepared different segments of the market are for…