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Collaboration is taking a leap of faith for future opportunitiesCollaboration is taking a leap of faith for future opportunities

Collaboration has become the watchword when it comes to decarbonisation but its benefit can be put at risk if the individual parties are focused on what is in it for them.

Marcus Hand, Editor

April 27, 2023

2 Min Read
decarbonisation panel SMW
Photo: Marcus Hand

Speaking on the CEO panel at the Accelerating Decarbonisation session in Singapore Maritime Week, Christian Ingerslev, CEO of Maersk Tankers, noted the word that is heard most on such panels was ‘collaboration’ but raised the question of what it really meant.

Ingerslev said that to Maersk Tankers collaboration was doing three things all of which related to scale.

“In some situations, we as a company have the right people to drive scale, and to drive the agenda. In other situations, we're the right people to participate in scale. And in some situations where the right people to use our voice, to raise issues are of concern to the industry,” he explained.

However, individual parties cannot go into collaboration with a specific goal of gaining something for their company.

“I think the biggest risk of collaboration is that everybody sits down and wonders ‘what do I get out of it?’. But the reality is that there's so many business opportunities and decompensation that you need to not worry about that. Collaboration is taking that leap of faith, stepping forward, and not worrying about what happens to you today, but seeing those opportunities that are there in the future.”

Ingerslev said that Maersk Tankers as a private company owned by the AP Moller Foundation is the fortunate position of not being judged on the last quarter in the way that a public company might be, and instead the question it was how to stay relevant for the next 50 years.

Related:Improved industry collaboration required to achieve emissions targets

With collaboration also comes the sharing of data to create the scale required something which Ingerslev noted there was a reluctance to do. With some 10,000 tankers in the world and the average shipowner owning just 3.8 tankers, he said, “I’m sorry to say each of our company’s individual data is worthless unless we pull it together. It feels a bit like each individual saying I will not shop on Amazon because then they will get my data.

About the Author

Marcus Hand

Editor

Marcus Hand is the editor of Seatrade Maritime News and a dedicated maritime journalist with over two decades of experience covering the shipping industry in Asia.

Marcus is also an experienced industry commentator and has chaired many conferences and round tables. Before joining Seatrade at the beginning of 2010, Marcus worked for the shipping industry journal Lloyd's List for a decade and before that the Singapore Business Times covering shipping and aviation.

In November 2022, Marcus was announced as a member of the Board of Advisors to the Singapore Journal of Maritime Talent and Technology (SJMTT) to help bring together thought leadership around the key areas of talent and technology.

Marcus is the founder of the Seatrade Maritime Podcast that delivers commentary, opinions and conversations on shipping's most important topics.

Conferences & Webinars

Marcus Hand regularly moderates at international maritime events. Below you’ll find a list of selected past conferences and webinars.

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