Difficult markets driving innovation and opportunities in shipping

On the one hand you have the gloom of analytical presentations about the industry and the pressures of regulations and on the other you plenty of companies busy launching new products and talking up their market potential.

What is happening in reality lies somewhere in between the two points of view. Yes, markets are generally still rather poor, fuel costs are a major headache and there are far too many shipyards. But this does not mean there is no business, far from it in fact.

Looking at the shipyards this year there have been plenty of new orders, just not enough to fill all the vacant slots. But what these new orders do mean is engine contracts, equipment contracts and a whole range of business for the marine related industries.

High fuel costs and difficult markets have also driven a demand for new, more efficient ship designs, new engines, optimisation software and a whole range innovation as shipowners and managers look to reduce their costs. Yards strapped for orders are far more willing to work on new innovative designs with owners, whereas in the boom it was a case of this is our standard design, take it or leave it.

On top of this the greater focus on environmental regulation drives business across a range of products such as ballast management systems, scrubbers and other new technologies.

It may be somewhat of a cliché but difficult markets do indeed appear to drive innovation. Shipping and marine markets are not at their best at the moment but this does not mean everyone has just gone home and given up. Shipping and therefore all its associated industries such shipbuilding and marine are vital to world trade.

This all equates to business that needs to be done, and in an increasingly efficient and environmentally friendly way. What it also means is that business is all that bit harder than it was a few years ago and that is why there were so many companies pushing their wares in China last week.