Industry collaboration will be key to achieving shipping's goals in the coming year. Working more closely with the aviation and rail sectors, and learning lessons on safety and emissions reduction will feature strongly

Getting crew off vessels as scheduled is possible and must be done because this is the deal they signed up for, says Anglo-Eastern chief executive officer Bjorn Hojgaard. The pandemic has also shown up the attitudes of governments quite blatantly, he adds

Greek shipowners are still against an EU emissions measure. However, if it has to happen, they believe it should be a mandatory levy payed by charterers. Danish shipowners suggest that initially there could be a domestic Emissions Trading System, which could potentially expand to international level in 10 years

The two major carriers also call for only domestic voyages to be included in the EU Emissions Trading System and for shipping companies to be able to buy emissions allowances from other sectors

In October 2019, the market capitalisation of oil major Royal Dutch Shell was 600 times higher than that of shipowner Teekay Tankers, one of the largest tanker companies. The EU’s CO2 monitoring, reporting and verification scheme’s focus on a company such as Teekay misses an important point

China and the EU have an aggressive green agenda driven by huge potential seen in the clean energy sector, a core engine of future growth. It is not to be taken for granted that shipping will receive the same treatment as the aviation sector in Brussels’ push to expand its carbon trading scheme

High-profile cyber attacks and the impending IMO 2021 requirement for shipping to get its digital house in order have sent shipowners searching for off-the-shelf solutions. But meeting the challenge is more complex, according to a recent industry discussion

The culture of adjusting records and reports to suit regulatory compliance is said to be well known among industry stakeholders. This is ironic, given the strong call throughout the year for seafarers to be regarded as key workers

The slow pace of regulation and a working status quo mean the transition to zero-carbon shipping will be challenging. But shipping has a duty to continue the work it has already achieved