Digitalization: the good, the bad and the ugly

When I was just starting my career in the maritime news reporting business, I remember being approached by a reputable editor of a printed magazine in his late 60s at a major trade fair in Hamburg, who asked which publication I worked for.

When I answered it was a digital publication, he dismissed the idea altogether, saying maritime journalism going digital was a silly idea.

Ten years into that encounter, the majority of shipping news agencies have gone online, while keeping some print brands. However, the mentality of keeping things unchanged and refraining from new technologies continues to linger in the sector.

Out with the old and in with the new

The outbreak of COVID-19 seems to have given the maritime domain the final push to digitalize out of necessity.

The Coronavirus pandemic has definitely changed life as we know it as the historically conventional industry broke the mould and turned to the power of going digital to resume business operation.

Digitalization of activities has basically become a tool of survival for many businesses during the pandemic.

Travel restrictions and working from home has also changed the daily routine for maritime journalists.

Zoom meetings, webinars and digital naming ceremonies have become our window into the latest developments in the market.

Surely, one might argue that digitalization has made things much easier, as you can join an IMO-hosted panel or a naming ceremony in Singapore from your kid’s playroom turned into a home office.

There is less travelling involved, less budget needed, which is always good news, and of course, a more environmentally friendly way of doing things.

That being said, the maritime sector thrives on social gatherings and networking in person.

Maritime events like conferences, trade fairs and exhibitions are so deeply ingrained into the industry’s DNA that this year has left us with a feeling of emptiness and missing out.

The events we were looking for to attending were either cancelled, delayed, or took a digital form.

Being able to hear from the industry in any form has been extremely important for keeping track of the latest developments and as a news source.

It enabled us to take the pulse of the industry to determine how it was dealing with the pandemic.

Nevertheless, since we are creatures of habit, there is always this sense of digital conferences being the second-best solution as still most industry stakeholders prefer being there in person and not having to turn on the cameras on their laptops.

Basically, there is still this sentiment of being a little bit uncomfortable with going digital.

Aside to missing the social interactions during coffee breaks or networking events at trade fairs, we are also missing out on the personal experience and adrenaline rushes from press tours and vessel naming ceremonies.

While preparing for our own trade event, Offshore Energy 2020, set to take place later this month, we saw that industry players are eager to meet in person and network.

However, having a trade fair and a conference of an international character while trying to meet all the health and safety requirements that are susceptible to change every day is a mission impossible.

These types of events are supposed to be spontaneous. But there is no spontaneity in controlling visitors’ every move. Hence, going digital seemed like a natural step.

Over the past few months, we have seen companies engage in virtual signing companies while staying in their offices on two separate continents, as well as press releases accompanied with photos of company officials donning face masks as they take a joint photo while trying to social distance.

Shipbuilders have also adapted quickly to the new reality, having hosted digital naming and delivery ceremonies for what would have been events of the year.

Namely, in just two weeks we reported on three major, first of their kind, digital ceremonies, including the naming of 23,000 TEU Jacques Saade, the largest LNG-powered containership in the world.

Italian shipbuilding major Fincantieri and Singapore’s Keppel Offshore & Marine have followed in the footsteps of their Chinese counterparts having hosted a virtual delivery ceremony for the Enchanted Princess cruise ship and a virtual naming ceremony for FueLNG Bellina, Singapore’s first LNG bunkering vessel.

While the effort of organizing such events is of course challenging given the fact that live-streaming can always go wrong in some way or the other, it is important to be able to share these milestones with the audiences to help build up a sense of accomplishment.

However, it is not the same thing, because we don’t get to see and experience the ships in person.

Opening of such events to the public and wishing a ship fair seas and following winds is a long-standing tradition. Will the pandemic change this tradition for good? It remains to be seen.

The outbreak of the coronavirus has also coincided with a spike in malware, ransomware, and phishing emails.

Cyberattacks on the maritime industry’s operational technology systems have increased by 900% over the last three years with the number of reported incidents set to reach record volumes by year-end.

There has been a 400% increase in attempted hacks from February till June 2020 coinciding with a period when the maritime industry turned to greater use of technology and working from home due to the pandemic, according to Israeli cybersecurity specialist Naval Dome.

The greater reliance on technology has also created a greater vulnerability in the sector to cyber attacks.

The economic impact of the pandemic has also influenced companies’ abilities to invest in many aspects of their business operations, including cyber security as finances are stretched.

 But, going digital comes with a great responsibility as potential financial and operational impacts could be massive.

Industry players CMA CGM and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) are the latest ones to fall victim to cyber-attacks.

Both of them are trying to determine the impact of the last week’s security breaches as they work on restoring their websites and other IT applications.

CMA CGM is the fourth container shipping company to experience a cyber attack including MSC, Cosco Shipping, and Maersk.

If it can happen to these industry majors, it can happen to anyone.

Therefore, we have to be aware of the responsibility that comes with digitalization.

Training about the best practices for security in the maritime sector and making resources available to detect, protect against, respond to, and recover from cyber incidents are crucial.

As we go about our business and tune into our next Zoom meeting we need to be mindful of the transformation we are in, and while thankful for the good, also be aware of the bad and the ugly.