When transport ministers, policy makers, even the general public talk about connectivity, it is airlines, railways and roads that they think of first – with ferries (indeed the whole of sea transport) mostly omitted from the conversation.

The low-profile industry of shipping is not generally the stuff of conspiracy theorists, however, with queues of containerships in Southern California hitting the headlines that is changing with theories about it being “manufactured”.

When the shipping industry descended on London last week for the first major in-person event since the pandemic, it brought a message of the urgent need for change.

It shouldn’t be terribly surprising that the poor treatment of seafarers by too many governments and their agencies during the pandemic has made their career markedly less attractive.

When a disagreement between contractual parties arises, disputing parties invariably agree at the outset that an amicable resolution is better than letting the matter be determined through litigation.

The recently published Seafarer Workforce Report 2021 made positive reading for gender diversity within the maritime sector.

Conditions for crew changes around the world have improved in the last six months, but not by enough. The global shipping community needs to maintain its pressure on IMO member states, says Ian Boyd, Group Sales Director – Shipping for the GAC...

Just as farmers persistently complain about the weather, shippers are never satisfied.

Severely disruptive events often expose previously unseen or underappreciated vulnerabilities. Add to the list how the trend toward increasingly mammoth vessels is making global supply chains even more fragile.

The latest Bimco and International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) Seafarer Workforce report warns of a potential serious shortage of officers. This is not the first time that the two organisations have made such a warning over the years but given the...