As part of our continuing quest to assess the options for shipping’s carbon-free future we’re looking at the case for ammonia this week. Joining our sustainability editor Anastassios Adamopoulos to discuss why NH₃ should be at the heart of any shipowner’s strategy is Milton Bevington and Stephen Crolius of Carbon Neutral Consulting

Ahead of the P&I renewals deadline we have been speaking to both sides of the annual battle. Clubs are seeking sharp increases in prices, while shipowners are trying their best not to end up paying more, sending their insurance brokers into bat to keep those rate hikes down. So who’s winning? This week we talk to: David Mahoney of Aon, Stephen Hawke of Ferrari, Gard’s chief underwriting officer Bjornar Andresen and Skuld’s executive vice-president Gregory Thomas.

The potential of Africa’s booming demographics are clear, but shipping has focused more on the risk than the rewards in recent years. That could be about to change with the US is increasingly looking like it wants to pivot to Africa and significant developments across several countries warranting a more optimistic looking at the near-term growth opportunities for maritime trade. Podcast regular Mark Williams, managing director of Shipping Strategy joins Lloyd’s List Editor Richard Meade this week to discuss the opportunities.

Despite significant efforts by international organisations, unions, companies and some governments to sort the crewing crisis, we are now starting to see the situation getting worse as governments bring in more travel bans in response to the new strains of coronavirus. On the podcast this week to discuss the implications is Graham Westgarth, chairman of V.Group, who warns that the crewing crisis yet to emerge will be when seafarers decide not to return to work

As part of a Lloyd’s List special report on digitalisation in shipping we are looking at shipping’s progress towards efficiency and integration on the podcast this week. Joining Lloyd’s List Editor Richard Meade is Sean Fernback, president of Wärtsilä Voyage, who is a relative newcomer to the sector and offers an outsider’s perspective on the challenges and opportunities that shipping has yet to face

With the help of BIMCO’s chief shipping analyst Peter Sand we’re taking a quick run through the key tipping points that will shape the shipping markets in 2021 on the podcast this week. Peter and Lloyd’s List editor Richard Meade cast their eyes across box market buoyancy, tanker troubles and the bulk market’s optimistic expectations for the year that inevitably all hinge on China. The next 12 months of shipping markets — all in under 25 minutes!

David Hammond, the founder and chief executive of Human Rights at Sea, explains why the crewing crisis has helped highlight wider abuses in the maritime sector and why we can’t let that attention fade along with coronavirus once the vaccination programme kicks in

On the podcast this week we examine whether shippers’ complaints that box lines are profiteering hold any water. We then turn to the results of the Lloyd’s List Decarbonisation Survey that we conducted late last year in search of some much-needed clarity regarding carbon reduction

A low orderbook never saved a market — you need demand to recover. Oil needs to return to pre-pandemic levels before you can recalibrate the supply demand of the fleet and think about a more sustainable upturn, so says veteran equity analyst Jonathan Chappell. He talks tankers turbulence with Lloyd’s List Editor Richard Meade this week, and sets out his forecast to 2022

The Lloyd’s List editorial team offer a behind the scenes insight into the arguments, stories and process that fuelled this year’s edition of the annual Top 100 ranking of influence in shipping #LLTop100

Despite all the positive examples of innovation, entrepreneurship and collaboration, shipping still struggles to move from siloed projects to scale because standardisation across such a fragmented sector is notoriously difficult. It is just one of many issues on the agenda this week as we take a sneak preview of what’s to come at next week’s Lloyd’s List Outlook Forum with founder and chief executive officer of innovation hub and accelerator Optima-X Angelica Kemene.

BW has pioneered dual-fuelled LPG engines and recently announced a world first with a VLGC voyage on full LPG propulsion across the Pacific. It’s a voyage expected to produce 20% less greenhouse gas emissions and use 10% less fuel. Given the chorus of pro-LNG dual-fuel zealots out there right now, it’s perhaps surprising that LPG hasn’t managed work its way higher up the agenda. BW’s technology and operations chief Pontus Berg joins our reporter Inderpreet Walia this week to offer a fresh look at LPG