Shipping is in the grip of ‘gigantism’

Megaships are the future for maritime commerce and will require further investment in port and landside logistical infrastructure, the Institut Franais De La Mer (IFM) has found, following industry consultation.
However, IFM prsident Francis Vallat warned an audience of marine insurers in Cannes that the increase in ship sizes raised big challenges in the areas of maritime safety, insurance and risk management.
“The increase in this size of ships, coupled with higher speeds, raises new questions. These should be not be ignored,” Mr Vallat said.
Delegates at Le Rendez-Vous De L’Assurance Transports conference heard that the industry is in the grip of “gigantism”, a condition of excessive growth, in all quarters, from boxships to cruise ships, dry bulk vessels, car carriers, and oil and gas tankers.
The IFM, with an eye on what this means for its domestic shipping industry, ports and maritime safety, carried out a survey of nearly 40 industry participants to ascertain what challenges this poses.
Technology limits have been overcome, the audience was told and the shipping market downturn would only help spur the process, particularly in the container shipping segment, as older, smaller tonnage was taken out of the global fleet.
“The conclusion of our group is that the only technological constraint now is, can we go as far as our imaginations can take us? The sky is the limit,” Mr Vallat said.
However, insurers face a major challenge with the accumulation of risks on board each container vessel, as occurred with the loss of the MSC Napoli.
The 4,500 teu boxship was a third of the size of the largest vessels now on order and is already the second most costly maritime insurance casualty after the Exxon Valdez.
Harmonisation
“The larger the ship, the more costly it is to insure, and then there is the matter of ship safety and security risks,” Mr Vallat said.
The IFM and many across the French maritime sector have suggested, however, that economic and commercial advantages offered by megaships – as well as other environmental arguments, for example, the larger the ships, the less at sea – outweigh other risks, such as insurance exposures.
There was a greater potential for containers to be lost at sea from megaships, requiring remedies such as harmonisation of port loading and discharging procedures, Mr Vallat said.
In the medium and long-term, larger boxships would mean better quality ships and owners, and would create a more rigorous operational and safety environment.
Other short-term solutions to some of the challenges faced by larger vessels included deepsea pilotage, special validation of seafarers’ qualifications, obligatory speed limits in certain zones, traffic lanes by vessel size and prohibition from areas of high risk.
“There is no longer an intellectual or technological constraint on building these vessels – the risks associated with gigantism now have to be well steered,” he added.