There has been a dramatic shift in attitudes at maritime organisations regarding digitalisation, particularly over the last two years around crew connectivity, safety, emissions reduction and vessel efficiency. 

“What you are seeing now is a crystallisation of the digital transformation in the maritime industry,” says Lloyd’s Register head of marketing Mark Warner. 

This was pointed out in a report, A Changed World: The state of digital transformation in a post-Covid-19 maritime industry, conducted by Thetius and commissioned by Inmarsat. The report estimates the global maritime digital products and services market in 2021 was worth US$159Bn – 18% ahead of pre-pandemic forecasts. In 2022, Thetius predicts market turnover will be three years ahead of pre-pandemic forecasts. 

Inmarsat’s own data covering commercial shipping during the pandemic period showed that the average daily data consumption per vessel nearly tripled from 3.4 to 9.8 GB between January 2020 and March 2021.  

Technologies that are employed widely in consumer products and other business sectors are now being applied to address container ship fires, parametric rolling, port congestion, decarbonisation and training, points out Safetytech Accelerator managing director Dr Maurizio Pilu. He says that maritime’s digital transformation is being underpinned by increased connectivity and a generational shift that is seeing more digital talent being attracted to the sector.