Dear Editor,
It’s interesting to know that nowadays the structure of the vessel market and its operations work in a way that there is an actual block towards the innovation process. It will be a long read 🙂
If you are not from the marine industry you might still have heard there are cargo owners like Ikea, Adidas, Walmart, and many many others (from different sectors not only retail is doing that) who are using marine transportation as a part of the supply chain.
There are ship managers who manage the fleets and provide this management as a service for the cargo owners. It’s not the only model of their business, but one of.
There are shipowners who own the vessels and earn money by “renting” them to ship managers.
There are lots of models of how the vessel is operating inside the vessel market: Cargo owner might be a vessel owner and a ship manager at the same time, might charter (rent) additional vessels through external ship managers at the same time, charter out own vessels to external ship managers and so on.
The basic issue is that the shipowner has low motivation to reduce the emission and upgrade his fleet because he is just an owner, not a manager. If it’s not damaged it’s ok for them.
The manager is paid by the cargo owner, so he might be motivated to reduce the emission, but only in cases where the cargo owner is willing to do so.
The cargo owner is not a manager and he has no idea how the vessel shall be operated.
It’s a simplification and for sure the picture and motivation of the participants are much more complex but at the same time, it’s the basics. Responsible consumption is not only about having recycled clothes or vegan products on your list, it’s also the understanding of how your brand delivers your stuff to your door, plate or wardrobe.
IMO regulations in particular targeting this old and lagging system increasing the cost of transportation for the companies with excessive emission during the upcoming years. And this actually a good idea for all of us.
And what is the first step to target the emission reduction? My guess will be to calculate them somehow…
And this somehow has a lack of options, in Marine Digital we actually think that there will be only one major option – to monitor the performance of the vessel and related emission online 24/7. Otherwise, will that be a true eco monitoring of the emissions?
And when it goes to the chartered (rented) vessels for example for 6 months… My question is – will you buy expensive new furniture from a well-known market brand for the flat that you plan to rent for 6 months? That is the current state of the market and how it’s changing right now in 202
Will be glad to hear your reader’s opinion/critics in the comments below.
Yours Sincerely,
Ivan Ladan
CEO – Marine Digital
