How can the maritime industry increase collaboration, and what are the benefits?

The maritime sector, often perceived as traditional and compartmentalised, operates with clearly defined roles for each stakeholder. While communication exists, it tends to follow a strict “need-to-have” logic and established protocols. This limits the potential for informal dialogue, innovation, and continuous process improvement — especially in an era demanding greater efficiency, sustainability, and technological progress. At MacGregor, we believe more open collaboration is essential. Our involvement in governmental and EU-funded projects such as AEGIS and MOSES, along with industry-financed initiatives like the TopTier Securing Container Safety programme led by Marin, reflects this view. These platforms offer a neutral space to tackle shared challenges, drawing on insights from both academia and industry professionals. We actively gather knowledge from these initiatives and apply it in the development of forward-thinking technologies that enhance cargo system efficiency and sustainability. By working closely with shipowners, shipbuilders, classification societies, and design offices — offering feedback and recommendations — we help advance practical, lifecycle-focused solutions that benefit the wider industry.

As the maritime industry collectively navigates the dynamic regulatory environment, shifting economic winds, and new technologies, it is crucial that our industry reaches across organisational divides and finds ways to work together in this era of change. Bridging those gaps is at the core of how ABS is helping the industry tackle its biggest challenges. By bringing industry pioneers together with joint development projects, we are fostering innovation and helping to enable the development and safe application of novel technologies and processes. These collaborative projects have an important role to play in driving the industry forward and finding success together.

Shipping is a highly fragmented industry. While this fragmentation allows for speed and flexibility in resolving the multiple operational and commercial challenges inherent to the industry, there are also downsides such as inefficiencies and misaligned incentives between owners, charterers, and managers. However, these challenges can be mitigated by stronger collaboration among the various stakeholders. At OceanScore, as we focus on supporting the shipping industry with FuelEU Maritime and the EU ETS, we aim to highlight the importance of collaboration in this space. Take, for example, FuelEU that offers multiple compliance options – primarily through bunkering of biofuels or the pooling of compliance balances. The best approach depends on several factors, including the availability, price, and quality of biofuels, the cost and accessibility of external pool volumes. Since the DOC holder is responsible for FuelEU compliance, the charterer selects the fuels and determines deployment, and the owner acts as the Link between them, an optimal commercial strategy can only be achieved if all three parties align on a shared plan. From the charterer’s perspective, it may initially seem financially beneficial to take a hands-off approach, leaving all compliance costs to the owner, and thus the manager. However, in the long run this strategy is unsustainable – especially given uncertainties around deployment patterns. Owners and managers cannot bear these risks alone. Consequently, FuelEU compliance costs must be factored into the charter party, including a risk premium for unknown variables. This, in turn, could lead to missed opportunities that collaboration would have otherwise unlocked. Ultimately, a lack of cooperation makes everyone worse off, while working together helps mitigate risks and maximise efficiency.

At a time when increasing regulatory pressures to reduce fleet carbon emissions and improve vessel efficiency is paramount, a tailored and collaborative approach taken by marine coatings companies and vessel operators contribute positively to long-term sustainability decisions and regulatory compliance. Our recent whitepaper, which explored how data collaboration between fouling control coating experts and vessel operators can drive more informed decision-making, highlighted how it enhanced data transparency and confidence in inspection data. These are both crucial for shipowners wanting to make effective investment decisions and to meet their sustainability goals.

The maritime industry’s decarbonisation challenge is too vast for any single organisation to tackle alone. There is no single person or company responsible for this transition, and it will take cross-industry collaboration to meet the sector’s net-zero goals. Achieving real progress demands coordinated action across the entire ecosystem — shipowners, operators, technology providers, regulators, academia, and beyond. Only through shared vision, open partnerships, and collaborative innovation can we drive sustainable transformation at the pace and scale required.

At Wärtsilä, this belief in the power of collaboration underpins our work. It is why we built our Sustainable Technology Hub (STH) in Vaasa, Finland — a state-of-the-art centre for research, development, and pilot projects that brings together a wide ecosystem of companies, start-ups, research institutions, and public sector partners. Since opening in 2022, STH has become a living example of how cross-sector partnerships accelerate the development of future-ready technologies.

From building cutting-edge infrastructure like STH, to forming deep partnerships with shipowners, to taking part in EU-backed innovation programmes, we’re seeing firsthand how collaboration unlocks progress.

Take our partnership with Eidesvik Offshore, for example. Together, we are converting the PSV Viking Energy to run on ammonia — making it the world’s first in-service ammonia-fuelled vessel. With support from Equinor, the project exemplifies how collaboration across the value chain can bring emerging technologies to commercial reality.

We are also working closely with industry players to accelerate the introduction of carbon capture solution (CCS) to the maritime market: The recent commercial launch of our carbon capture solution followed the world’s first successful full-scale installation onboard Solvang ASA’s Clipper Eris. Installed and optimised in real operating conditions, the pilot system demonstrates how real-world collaboration helps refine innovation and build confidence in new technologies.

Moreover, the EU-sponsored TwinShip project, launched last year, brings together multiple stakeholders to improve access to high-quality data for smarter, emissions-conscious decision-making. Collaboration is already making a difference across the industry. It’s the key to accelerating progress, achieving net zero, and building a maritime sector that’s ready for the future.

Collaboration is becoming a strategic priority as the maritime industry accelerates toward decarbonisation, digitalisation, and hybridisation. Shipyards, OEMs, integrators, and classification societies are increasingly aligning to deliver future-ready vessels that meet evolving operational and regulatory demands. At STAMFORD | AvK, we believe this shift starts with early engagement — working alongside partners at the design stage to engineer alternator solutions that integrate seamlessly into hybrid, electric, and alternative fuel systems. Through our Future Ready approach, we’re advancing innovation in power generation while supporting compliance with key frameworks like IACS and marine agency rules and regional schemes like the EU ETS. By collaborating across the value chain, we reduce system integration time, improve vessel performance, and enable faster adaptation to new technologies. Our long-standing partnerships with classification bodies and marine OEMs ensure our solutions are globally compliant, technically robust, and built to meet the future energy needs of the industry.