Post COVID-19 Era: Future of Maritime Industry

- Korea Maritime Week (Nov. 18-19), a venue for discussing digitalization and decarbonization in shipping -

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF; Minister MOON, Seong-Hyeok) of the Republic of Korea will hold the “2020 Korea Maritime Week” at the Imperial Palace Seoul on November 18-19, 2020.

Since its inception in 2017 when two existing forums - Seoul International Maritime Forum and International Ballast Water Management Forum - were integrated to the Korea Maritime Week, the event has provided a global platform for maritime experts from all around the world to share insights on existing maritime issues and new trends as well as explore ways forward in the maritime sector.

This year, the event, on the theme of “Post COVID-19, Digitalization and Decarbonization in shipping,” will focus on the impact and future implications of the COVID-19 pandemic to the maritime industry and seek directions for the industry to move forward as a whole by sharing relevant policies and industrial trends on digitalization and decarbonization.

The event will be held in a hybrid manner. Minister MOON, Seong-Hyeok, Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, and more than 20 experts from various sectors, such as shipping, marine environment, and digital technology, will take part in person while representatives from international organizations such as the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Labor Organization (ILO) will attend the event virtually.

Anyone interested in this event can register for the virtual conference at www.koreamaritimeweek.or.kr by Tuesday, November 17. Those who are not registered in advance can participate in the event through live streaming which will be available on the website.

On the first day, a special panel discussion will be held, following an introduction by Minister MOON, Seong-Hyeok under the theme of “COVID-19: the effects on the maritime sector and future prospects“. The discussion will be attended by Chang Youngtae, President of Korea Maritime Institute (KMI), Lee Hyungchul, Chairman and CEO of Korean Register (KR), Bae Jae-hoon, CEO of HMM Co,. Ltd., and Ka Samhyun, CEO of Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering (KSOE) at the venue, along with Brandt Wagner, Head of Unit of International Labor Organization(ILO) and Martin Stopford, President of Clarkson Research in a virtual format.

The Session 1, under the theme of “Post COVID-19 in Maritime Community”, will consist of presentations and a Q & A session on ▲ proposals to overcome the COVID-19 crisis, ▲ direction of technological change in survey, inspection, and certificates in the non-face-to-face era, and ▲ global regulatory landscape in the Post-COVID-19 era.

On the second day, the Session 2, on the theme of “Digitalization in Shipping”, will explore ways for developing the shipping industry using state-of-the-art digital technology, including ▲ development of operational technologies for autonomous ships and ▲ introduction of an automatic collision avoidance system for Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) and proposals of quantitative safety evaluation method for certification.

The Session 3, under the theme of “Decarbonization in shipping”, will introduce global decarbonization policies set to protect marine environment and have a discussion with subject matter experts on ▲ strategic approach to green ship development considering a domestic industrial environment, ▲ reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the global shipping industry, and ▲ best practices of eco-friendly alternative fuel and green ships.

“It is projected that, in the Post-COVID-19 era, digitalization and decarbonization would be accelerated further,” said Minister MOON, Seong-Hyeok. “Based on discussions and insights shared in 2020 Korea Maritime Week, we will lay the foundation for policies enabling domestic enterprises to take a lead in advancing new technologies in the transition period of the maritime industry and enter the global markets with the new technologies.”