SHIPPING will experience a significant degree of disruption in the coming decade.

It might be unsettling but the end result will be a more sustainable, safer, innovative and agile industry. That’s the message expected from the Lloyd’s List Maritime and Logistics Summit in Doha on February 18.

With the export of liquefied natural gas such a key element in Qatar’s economy, the session on LNG will speak to the nation’s future.

Chris Pålsson, head of consulting at Lloyd’s List Intelligence, will provide an overview of changing gas shipping trades.

He will be followed by Bader Al Mulla, LNG joint ventures manager at Nakilat; Andrea Di Lillo, business development manager at Bureau Veritas; and Sergey Tarasov from Wärtsilä Digital Solutions.

LNG is regarded as the bridging fuel between carbon-heavy and zero-carbon fuels, so the sustainable development of this energy solution will be keenly watched by shipping’s leaders throughout the 2020s.

The next session focuses on liner shipping, ports and terminals. Romain Martimort from CMA CGM — which is itself strongly committed to LNG as a fuel — will outline what liner operators be looking for in future terminals. This will be complemented by Neville Bissett, chief executive at Qatar’s Q Terminals, responding with what terminal operators need from liner companies.

Milaha’s chief executive, Abdulrahman Al Mannai, and Lim Meng Hui, chief executive at Qatar Free Zones Authority, will address sustainability and the evolving transport hub.

The final session of the day draws the strings together from a global perspective. Arun Sharma, chairman of the International Association of Classification Societies; Lawrence Barchue, assistant secretary-general at the International Maritime Organization; and Masahiko Furuichi, secretary-general of the International Association of Ports and Harbors, will bring the breadth and depth of expertise gained from their roles.

IACS represents 12 class societies, IMO has delegates from 173 member states, while the IAPH membership runs to more than 200 ports in 90 nations. The concluding view from Doha comes from Captain Abdulaziz Al-Yafei, executive vice-president operations at Mwani Qatar. 

Last September, Qatar’s transport minister accepted a certificate from Guinness World Records for building the deepest artificial basin ever made on the planet. Hamad Port's basin is 4,000 m long, 700 m wide and 17 m deep. Excavation took two and a half years to complete, with the removal of 44.5m cu m  of dredged material, which was later used in other construction works at the project, resulting in huge savings.

Speakers from Qatar, Ukraine, Sweden, Russia, Italy, India, Japan, the UK and other nations will offer their critial insight into an industry in transition.

The summit will welcome the new prime minister of Qatar, Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al-Thani. Transport minister Jassim Saif Ahmed Al Sulaiti will welcome delegates, together with Ukraine’s infrastructure minister, Vladyslav Kryklii.

Qatar’s ambition, encapsulated in the National Vision 2030, covers human, social, economic, and environmental development. This Maritime and Logistics Summit touches on each of these pillars.

Further details of the Summit can be found here.