Navigating Change: The Evolution of the Maritime Industry and its Path to Sustainability

History of Shipping And Maritime

As with most inventions, their beginnings can be traced back to Ancient Egypt. The same can be said in the maritime industry, with the first boats used for transporting goods and people reported to have been in use as early as the 4th millennium BCE in Ancient Egypt. In the early days of Egyptian society, it is no surprise that the design of such ships tended to be simpler. The people of Egypt settled along the Nile River and as such the Nile tended to be a big part in Egyptian society, facilitating trade and exploration. 

This period was the first time in recorded history that humans used oars and sails in shipping. As such, early Egyptian boats consisted solely of one square sail and one or two rows of oarsmen. This was also the time that one of the first innovations in ship design came into view, the streamlined shape. The Egyptians quickly figured out that making their boats larger in width, despite being able to accommodate more oarsmen, caused the boat to travel slower with the oarsmen being less effective. As such, later boats began to expand in height rather than width by creating more levels of deck space top accommodate more cargo and crew.

Not long after, these early societies discovered the idea of trading. While the Egyptians were developing their own boats to travel along the Nile River, the Mesopotamians were also developing similar boats to travel along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. As such, these civilizations were able to participate in international trade, exchanging items such as textiles and ceramics. The advent of global trade spurs much of the innovation that takes place in the maritime industry.

Additionally, as these boats continue to advance, increasing their travel distance, the capacity of these ships for exploration also increases. One of the first places that the Egyptians explored through ships was the island of Crete, which was followed by journeys to Phoenicia and the opening of the Red Sea to trade, allowing the Egyptian Kingdoms to deal with many parts in East Africa.

Additionally, as with other forms of transport, much of the innovation in the maritime industry came about due to the realisation of the usefulness of ships when it came to warfare. As such, this period marked the beginning of a rapid increase in naval battles, leading to significant developments in ship design. War ships needed to be agile to better get to enemy lines, resulting in long, narrow ships being the preferred ship design. The streamlined shape of this ship design allowed for fast movement in water along with increased maneuverability in rough weather conditions. Additionally, to transport a larger number of both soldiers and supplies, the carrying capacity of these boats continued to increase.

Moving to the age of the Roman Republic, ship design continued to advance. Julius Caesar, in his conquest of Northern Europe and the British Isles, came across boats that used clinker construction in which boats were built through overlapping planks of wood that gave these boats added strength which were more useful in areas like the Baltic and North Seas which tended to be rougher with a higher likelihood of hurricanes. These, in comparison to the Mediterranean ships, were less streamlined as the boats in the Mediterranean were carvel-built, by joining planks along their lengths to form a smooth surface.

Moreover, the windier conditions in the northern latitudes allowed for wind to flow in a majority of compass directions. In the Mediterranean, boats were designed for following the prevailing wind direction. This was especially true in low air pressure summer periods, where the duration of wind changes was even longer, leaving the use of sails unfeasible. While in the northern areas of Europe, the frequently changing wind direction allowed boats to use sails to travel in more directions. 

History of Sustainability in Maritime

There is no denying that the need to improve sustainability in the maritime industry is accelerating. Why, you may ask? After all, maritime shipping is by far the most carbon efficient means of transporting goods as its emissions are a mere fraction of the CO2 per tonne kilometre of a train, car or airplane. However, the sheer size of global trade means that the industry accounts for 2.1% of global CO2 emissions. Evidently, this highlights the need for improvements in this industry to reduce our carbon footprint but not at the cost of world trade.

Fortunately, there are steps being taken to reduce our carbon emissions.The International Maritime Organisation(IMO) aims to reduce total emissions from international shipping by at least 50% by 2050. In the shorter term, by 2030, the IMO aims to achieve a 40% efficiency gain in Maritime Transport to improve sustainability in this sector. How will this be achieved? Through the wonders of R&D! The World Shipping Council(WSC) has spearheaded an industry proposal to establish an industry-financed, $5 billion USD R&D plan to catalyse the transformation of the industry from dependence on fossil fuels to operating with zero-carbon energy sources. The end goal is to launch commercially viable zero-carbon ships by the 2030s.

Admittedly, while R&D has proven throughout history to be a successful solution to problems, it will take awhile before the efforts bear fruit. Thus, there is a need for stricter protocols that countries ought to abide by in order to globally reduce emissions. While CO2 is certainly one of the biggest culprits, less people are privy to the knowledge that ocean ships also generate emissions of sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. In recent years, Annex VI of MARPOL(an international treaty aimed at targeting air pollution) establishes legally binding international standards to regulate emissions and discharges generated by ships. In fact, we’ve already seen the positive effects such regulations can have on reducing air pollution. Recent important developments where WSC has contributed include the IMO 2020 reduction of the cap on sulfur emissions from ships on the high seas from 3.5% to 0.5%. There has also been an introduction of regional Emission Control Areas(ECA zones) to limit sulfur and nitrous oxide emissions in specific geographical regions of the world.

Evidently, stricter regulation and R&D play a pivotal role in reducing the maritime industry’s environmental footprint. However, there are also ongoing efforts in the realm of engineering to improve the efficiency of our ships. For instance, one way in which we strive towards efficiency is improving the hull design of ships. Using streamlined hull designs decrease the resistive force acting on the ship and thus less fuel is consumed. There have also been efforts to apply anti-fouling coatings on ships to curtail the buildup of barnacles on the hull to also decrease the resistive forces acting on the ship. Moreover, one overlooked area in which we can move towards a sustainable maritime industry is our ports. Ports can leverage AI to optimize vessel traffic and loading to reduce idle time, thus reducing emissions and conserving energy. Another example is the digital optimisation of routes. AI can analyse weather patterns to determine the optimal route for the ship, thus saving time and fuel.

All these innovations are just the tip of the iceberg. Experts are looking at the complete electrification of short-haul trips and alternative energy sources such as solar power. With technology advancing at an unprecedented pace, we can rest assured that we are moving towards a greener maritime industry.