by Lloyd's List
10 September (Lloyd's List) - MALICIOUS physical attacks against commercial shipping were among the three biggest risks for maritime executives in 2024, joining political instability and cyber attacks, according to the International Chamber of Shipping’s Barometer Report.
“Geopolitical upheaval has pulled malicious physical attacks into the leading concerns for the first time, ousting financial instability,” ICS said.
Shipping executives viewed regulations and availability of trained crew as having the greatest impact on operations, along with public funding and market-based measures, according to the survey among 104 executives.
Political instability led to a sharp rise in protectionism, representing a key factor driving both nearshoring and friendshoring, ICS said.
The International Maritime Organization’s more ambitious climate targets, adopted last year, boosted maritime executives’ confidence in regulations, as almost 50% of respondents signalled improved willingness to invest in low- and zero-carbon measures following the IMO agreement.
Alternative fuels and technologies that reduce emissions, such as methanol, nuclear power and wind power garnered more interest this year, although LNG, biofuels and heavy fuel oil with abatement technology continued to lead industry forecasts for the coming decade.
Shipping executives were more confident in their ability to manage the risk of stranded assets, compared with the results of the previous two ICS surveys.
“The sharp increase in confidence perhaps reflects both the shipowners’ efforts to mitigate financial impacts and their ability to keep pace with the emerging decarbonisation narrative,” ICS said.
LNG was the most popular fuel choice, as 51% of respondents viewed it as the fuel that will be the most viable in the next decade, followed by heavy fuel oil with abatement technology and biofuels at 49% and 47%, respectively.
Despite the dominance of such fuels in the survey, executives viewed each of these choices as less viable than the previous survey, with other choices such as methanol, wind and nuclear power rising on the scale of viability.
ICS added a new section to its survey for protectionism, detailing the respondents’ view on protectionist measures such as nearshoring, reshoring, offshoring and friendshoring.
“Respondents noted that increased competition for local fuels and energy supply is likely to have the most significant impact on their business operations arising from a shift to de-globalised operations.”
