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.