BRIDGING THE FERRY INDUSTRY SHIPPAXINFO COLOR MAGIC arrives in Oslo Check in starts The event starts with a show... ...which was appreciated among the delegates 2 SHIPPAXINFO – JUN 18 POSITIVE OUTLOOK – NEW CHALLENGES – RESPONSIBLE OPERATION TEXT: EERO MÄKINEN PHOTOS: SHIPPAX AND GEORGE GIANNAKIS The 16th Shippax Ferry Conference took place on board Color Line’s COLOR MAGIC between April 18 to 20 on the route Oslo- Kiel-Oslo. The event attracted a record number of over 440 del- egates. The overall theme of the conference was ‘The Future is Green’. The title of this text summarises the industry’s current key focus areas. he Shippax Ferry Shipping small stands. The stands adjacent to the Conference is traditionally or- conference auditorium seem to make Tganised on board a cruise ferry, the exhibiting function very effective. resulting in many benefits. One of those All in all, the event was supported by 56 is the ‘integrity’ throughout the two-day companies – including those exhibiting. exercise, something that most attendees At the end of the conference it was seem to value very highly. Compared to announced that the 17th Shippax Ferry a traditional conference at an onshore Conference will be held on Tallink Sil- Trond Kleivdal, Color Line , opens the conference by ring- ing the ship’s bell, a tradition since the onboard confer- facility, the onboard event facilitates ja’s SILJA SERENADE on March 12-14, ence started year 2003. effective communication between the 2019 on the route Stockholm-Helsinki- delegates. That’s because delegates Stockholm. Please note: the conference tive of the hosting shipping company, typically stay in different hotels when is scheduled for March, not April, as has this time by Trond Kleivdal, CEO of attending conferences on land. been the case for many years. Color Line. Mr Kleivdal noted that this As always, the event also included an In accordance with tradition, the was the fourth time the conference was exhibition, this time counting over 50 conference was opened by a representa- held on board a Color Line ferry. ...which was appreciated among the delegates JUN 18 – SHIPPAXINFO 3 Jan-Erik Norli, Telenor Maritime, the main sponsor of the event Keynote speaker Anders Borg, former two-term Swedish Minister of Finance and Member of the board of Stena International, talked about the global recovery and technological disruption Top ferry executives panel debate Top ferry executives panel debate 4 SHIPPAXINFO – JUN 18 KEYNOTE: GLOBAL RECOVERY AND throughout the conference offered a sively covers issues related to the future TECHNOLOGY DISRUPTION perfectly working, free internet service business environment. Issues like 3D without limits to the delegates. The printing, big data, emerging consumer After the brief note by Jan Erik Norli, quality of the service was high and trends etc. were among the outcomes CSO Marcom of Telenor Marine (the undisturbed. of that analysis. She made a remark that main sponsor of the event), covering the Brexit is just one of many elements af- history and future of connectivity at sea, PANEL DEBATE fecting the future of the company that the keynote speech was given by Anders she heads. Borg, the former Swedish Minister of In line with previous years, this panel is Paul Griffin, President/CEO of Finance and a board member of Stena a kind of the State of the Industry ses- Marine Atlantic, Canada emphasised International. Mr Borg gave a very sion, with several high-profile industry environmental issues, technology de- professional and balanced summary of representatives expressing their views velopment, ice issues on the East Coast the overall economic development in of the situation today, challenges etc. of Canada, and the need to better serve the world, also mentioning its impact Trond Kleivdal from Color Line empha- clients. on the ferry industry. Not surprisingly, sised sustainability and digitalisation Bernard Dwyer, CEO of Spirit of Tas- the picture was by-and-large positive. as key future elements. He anticipates mania, Australia, was proud of the fact Worth repeating here are the following a productivity increase as a result of that Spirit of Tasmania now has decided excerpts from his speech: digitalisation. Surprisingly, Color Line to build two new vessels that will be - 75 % of the countries in the world currently has 1,000 employees fewer considerably larger than the existing are doing ok; than ten years ago – with no change in two vessels built about twenty years ago. - Inflation is eryv low and continues to annual revenue. An important issue for LNG will be the name of the game. be low; the future is the quality of the employ- Peter Arvidsson, COO of Stena Line, - US tax cuts will boost the economy; ees: companies do have to invest in Sweden, explained Stena Line’s busi- - Labour markets are becoming more training. An interesting milestone will ness philosophy in detail. This very flexible; be the delivery of COLOR HYBRID, a much relies on a fleet with ultimate - E-commerce is growing rapidly, ship that will be battery-powered only flexibility. The Stena E-Flexer series leading to major cuts in costs in in the areas near and at the ports. The under construction at the AVIC Weihai many areas; ship will operate between Norway and yard in China is an illustrative example. - France is changing many things; Sweden, with delivery scheduled for the Looking at long-term issues, he men- - Good environment for shipping; summer of 2019. tioned the need for new technology that - Artificial Intelligence epresentsr a Paul Kyprianou from the Grimaldi has to be viable beyond 2060, systems major potential to the ferry shipping Group, Italy, listed major challenges that for electricity storage, digitalisation for industry; the industry is facing today and in the more efficient operations, automatic - US and China: no trade war in the future. One of the trade-related chal- port operations, clean energy, business cards, as that would be too negative lenges is the ageing of the fleet. Other optimisation etc. for China; challenges iclude relations to the states, For the debate, a positive element - 2018 and 2019 will be good years further concentration of the industry, was that the panellists discussed many - Challenges: oil price, Middle East, competition from low-cost airlines, and different issues in their introductory China’s indebtedness, Brexit, Russia also Brexit, of course. In addition, there statements. In the discussion that fol- (“no hope with their present ap- is the trend towards digitalisation, regu- lowed the introductory notes, environ- proach”), the world population will latory framework (and specifically the mental pollution was highlighted, and increase – but Europe’s population IMO/EU issues), EEDI, decarbonisa- comments were given that the industry will not rise. tion, the 2020 sulphur cap, zero emis- has to react faster than what the rules sion in ports, investments in ever larger will require. A 50% reduction of CO2 by Mr Borg’s presentation was highly units etc. All in all, a really comprehen- 2050 is not enough! The industry will appreciated, as it also resulted in the sive list of challenges. lose passengers if it does not act faster. whole conference having a positive Janette Bell, CEO of P&O Ferries, Another issue discussed vividly was atmosphere. UK, put focus on the comprehensive the need for and the quality of employ- The message from the main sponsor PESTLE analysis undertaken on behalf ees. A good employer requires a good was specifically appreciated, as Telenor of P&O Ferries. The analysis exten- environment. Many are worried about Paul Kyprianou, Grimaldi Group Janette Bell, P&O Ferries Bernard Dwyer, Spirit of Trond Kleivdal, Color Line Paul Griffin, Marine Atlantic Peter Arvidsson, Stena Line Tasmania JUN 18 – SHIPPAXINFO 5 Koert Grever talked about the education for busi- ness leaders with positive impact at IESE Business School which boasts five campuses with 170 professors around the globe. Ingemar Gustavsson, Actemium Marcus Högblom, ABB Marine Ari Huttunen, Foreship the availability of quality employees Swedish ports. Actemium offers a turn- technical issues like the hull form. In down the road. key package with its installations, cover- that particular case, the power savings Paul Kyprianou strongly suggested ing the whole system. It has already been of the pod version over the conventional that an age limit for ferries should be introduced in eleven Scandinavian ports, shaft line was 5.8%. The figure is quite established and that this would also be with more to come in e.g. Oslo, Visby, impressive and is certainly confirmed by very much in the interest of shipbuild- and Antwerpen. There is no doubt that the market, with the increasing popular- ers. That idea did not receive common shore connection is the way to go in the ity of the pod concept – particularly in support as, obviously, the second-hand future, albeit the development seems to medium- and large-size cruise vessels. value of ships is critically important to be surprisingly slow. The benefits are However, it seems likely that it will also all shipowners. obvious: less emissions, less noise etc. gain popularity in the ferry segment. The introduction of hybrid and all-elec- It should come as no surprise that also NEW CONCEPTS AND IDEAS FOR tric ships puts further emphasis on the ABB is very active in hybrid and all- THE INDUSTRY relevance of shore connections. electric power concepts. Operating in a Marcus Högblom, Vice President green mode when entering the port and Shore connections for electricity Global Sales at ABB Marine & Ports, and also whilst being in the port seems to be is something that is slowly gaining Ari Huttunen, Head of Ferry Design at the future. popularity, particularly in many ports in Foreship, Finland, gave a very detailed Northern Europe.