DIGITAL technology and Starlink communications are transforming the shipping industry to an unprecedented degree, according to Navio Group chief executive Angeliki Frangou.
“For thousands of years, shipping changed slowly, but the era of slow change is over,” Frangou told the Columbia Engineering Class of 2026 in a keynote speech to undergraduates.
Shipping was “in the middle of a technological revolution, moving at light speed”, she said.
Starlink and other low-orbit constellations providing real-time data, crew communication and remote monitoring of vessel functions were the equivalent of the jump from sending a photo by email attachment to streaming video on demand.
“Data and connectivity are transforming everything,” said Frangou. “As we evolve, these data streams will power models that will predict what may fail in the future.
“There is a shift from reactive repair to proactive reliability and this will fundamentally change our industry.”
Frangou told the class: “Engineers like you will be reimagining what ships can be” as the new digital connectivity was “unlocking a wave of innovation”.
The Greek shipowner herself graduated from the Columbia Engineering master’s programme in 1988 but while not a full-time engineer, her every decision was filtered through the same problem-solving template developed studying engineering.
“That mindset, that discipline is my superpower,” said Frangou. “While I wear a business suit, I have never stopped being an engineer,” she told students.
Frangou admitted she was “basically on a recruitment trip” to advertise the scope for young engineers within a fast-changing shipping industry.
Strong US presence
Shipping companies such as Navios, which has a diversified fleet of about 180 ships and employs 3,500 people at sea, “sail through everything — conflict zones, trade disruptions and geopolitical change”.
“The global events that have shaped your lives, guys — a pandemic, wars, tariffs, these same events change our business.”
She found her job “endless exciting”, she admitted.
“Equally exciting” as the technological change transforming the sector was the US government’s new determination to restore a strong American presence in the shipping industry and rebuild its maritime industrial base.
Frangou recalled the period during the Second World War when the US “went from a standing start to the world’s largest shipbuilder”, constructing thousands of Liberty ships and other merchant vessels in only a few years.
“I have no doubt that this great nation can repeat this again,” she said. “The US will need a new generation of shipyards built around emerging technologies.”
Processes such as laser welding, advanced robotics and automated production lines could dramatically increase quality and speed of construction while reducing the cost of US-made vessels, she stated.
“My industry, the maritime industry, needs you,” she told the Columbia class. “It is standing on the threshold of something extraordinary but needs your talent to accomplish the profound transformation coming from AI, autonomy and connectivity.
“We are in a defining moment, a period of modern-day moonshots that will reshape our world,” she said.
