Digital Tanker Trade

Abstract

The technical advancements and digitization change the landscape of the shipping industry. An industry that has been considered slow-moving and conservative for ages, but slowly have started to see benefits of technological improvements such as Blockchain from the office side of the business. Money and valuable time could be saved due to improved processes but how does that affect the people within the organisation and the sales process? And what factors in the tanker market may affect the willingness to adopt new technological inventions? By using semi structured interviews to interview industry representatives from the maritime sector in Gothenburg, Sweden, the writers try to understand how the shipping business eventually will change in the five to ten years to come. The results show that Charterers are likely to do more fieldwork due to new technology that replace and change current work roles. Several interviewees emphasize that the business relations between Cargo-owners, Shipowners and Charterers are extremely important in the shipping industry and will likely become even more important in the future. Technology as Blockchain has also the positive impact of reducing financial risks for Charterers and Shipowners because of less need for Letters of Indemnity which has been a branch standard. It also increases transparency in the market, which was both negative and positive depending on where in the world the vessels from the company were trading.