Shipping Moves Our World

World Maritime Day 2017 is being celebrated on 28 September. The theme for this year is ‘Connecting Ships, Ports, and People’, which sums up perfectly the connectivity of ships, port and people which contribute toward world commerce and other maritime-related sectors. Mariners have been coastal hopping and crossing the seas to explore, wage war, protect, colonize, and to trade for thousands of years. It is hard to imagine how hard those early voyages must have been. The purpose of shipping has changed little over the centuries but modern ships and technology have brought enormous changes, particularly in recent history. Most of us never give a second thought to how all the things we use in our lives, got to be here from all around the world. At a glance, looking around my house, so many of my appliances, clothes, foodstuffs, technology, car and the fuel it runs on, and every day goods, were all shipped here from other countries. It is the same for people all around the world. The list of products that enhance our lives that arrived by ship is extensive but we take it for granted that it will be here when we need it. The Indian Ocean has long been one of the busy shipping regions. For centuries, dating back as long as the third millennium Before the Current Era (BCE), vessels sailed along the coastlines from the Far East to Africa. 

Today, it remains a busy region for giant cargo and oil carriers, container ships, and other vessels. Soon, the Indian Ocean region will become even busier with the opening of the port at Gwadar and enhanced facilities at Karachi when CPEC is implemented. This will bring enormous benefits to Pakistan and speed up the movement by ships of goods transported to and from China and throughout Pakistan. Shipping has certainly opened up the world. The Chinese were early sea adventurers and by 1132, had a standing navy. The British, Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch too were great seafaring nations, crossing the oceans to trade and colonize countries including the Americas, India, Southeast Asian countries, Africa, and Australia. They brought with them new ways of doing things but also new diseases, subjugation, and in some cases, genocide of indigenous communities. They shipped back to their home countries, treasures of gold, precious metals and stones, silk, spices, tea, coffee, potatoes, and many other what were then exotic species to excite the wealthy elites. Even the earliest colonization of Australia is believed to have been by sea between 45,000 and 80,000 years ago. Historians who study the Australian Indigenous people have long argued over evidence that they originated somewhere in what is today South East Asia and made their way by sea through New Guinea and into Australia. Today, seafarers travel in much more comfort. Giant ships, with better crew facilities, transverse the globe carrying oil, containers, motor vehicles, livestock, and a bewildering array of goods between countries. Estimates vary but as much as 90 percent of all world trade is transported by sea. 

According to the International Chamber of Shipping, over 50,000 merchant ships are trading internationally, transporting billions of dollars of cargo or every type. The world fleet is registered in over 150 nations, and manned by over a million seafarers of virtually every nationality. Container ships, supertankers and bulk carriers are amongst the largest ships in the world transporting massive tonnages. The size of modern ore carriers has grown enormously with the Brazilian giant Vale Brasil being currently the largest of these ships. Bulk carriers like Vale Brasil which carry cargo of ore, coal or grains, make nearly 15% - 17% of the world’s merchant vessels. However, when there is a slump in the commodities market, these ships become floating and costly ghost ships until such times as the market improves. But the shipping industry does face challenges at the moment. Hanjin Shipping company of South Korean is attempting a recovery through downsizing by selling off much of its fleet and offloading its chartered vessels. Over-capacity, massive investment in giant ships, slowing economies in countries like China, and falling shipping prices, have contributed to Hanjin’s downfall and have been a concern for the shipping industry for some time. One of the concerns amongst shipping experts focuses on whether ships are becoming too big and therefore, becoming less cost effective. A recent Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) report, “The Impact of Mega-Ships'' highlights several key findings:

• Cost savings from bigger container ships are decreasing
• The transport costs due to larger ships could be substantial
• Supply chain risks related to mega-container ships are rising
• Public policies need to better take account of this and act accordingly
• Further increase of maximum container ship size would raise transport costs

The report also highlights the growing concerns about the environmental impact of mega ships. Dredging to increase the size of port facilities has attracted significant protest from environmental groups around the world. For example, in Hamburg, environmentalists and NGOs have taken a case to the European Court of Justice to stop further dredging in the Elbe River. Environmental groups elsewhere are also protesting against the coastal damage, loss of coral reefs, fish breeding grounds, and pollution caused by new or expanded port facilities. These will be challenges for the global shipping industry and governments to deal with to arrive at the best environmentally friendly solutions. Piracy and terrorism place ships of all sizes at risk and the larger the vessel, the greater the prize for those with evil intent. Pirates have been around as long as shipping trade has existed stealing cargo, taking vessels, and kidnapping or killing crew.

According to the International Chamber of Commerce - International Maritime Bureau (ICC-IMB) Piracy and Armed Attacks Against Ships Report; in the last five-year period, the latest piracy report shows that in the first six-months of 2017, 63 vessels were boarded, 12 fired upon, four were hijacked and attacks were attempted on another eight vessels. A total of 63 crew have been taken hostage so far this year. Interestingly, there were no attacks off the coast of Somalia, previously a piracy hotspot. But there has been good news. Figures published by Oceans Beyond Piracy indicate that the cost of piracy in the western Indian Ocean has reduced from $7 billion in 2010, to $1.2 billion till first quarter of 2017. This is credited to the work of international naval task forces that now patrol the waters in the region. 

Pakistan Navy has been a key participant in efforts to reduce piracy in the region and has been lauded for its efforts by other task force participants, and ship owners. Holiday cruise ships too have become larger as more holidaymakers become attracted by the lure of the sea. Today cruise ships have become floating cities carrying thousands of passengers and crew members. The Harmony of the Seas, which set sail in 2016, has the current title of ‘biggest cruise ship in the world’, carrying almost 5,500 passengers and 2,700 crew. These ships, like their cargo cousins, are also creating headaches for port authorities due to their massive size. In Venice, a beautiful and historic city with a fragile environment, locals have recently been protesting against the increasing presence of these behemoths of the sea. Their protests focus on the large numbers of people visiting on day trips from ships, who are overcrowding the city and without boosting the local economy. The concerns too are based on the environmental damage to the city and waterways. It may only be a matter of time before protests become court action in Venice and other tourist destinations, as is being seen in the merchant shipping sector. 

But despite the challenges and the current downturn in the shipping industry, experts consider the long-term outlook to be very good. Energy efficient engines and design, enhanced infrastructure and technologies for the entire transport chain to move goods more rapidly to and from ports, will all contribute to managing the costs but at the same time, keep shipping charges down. Like all sectors, the shipping industry has its good times and lulls, but there is no doubt that shipping is, and always will be, indispensable to the world.