The prospects of the Maritime Industry for 2023

Numerous prospects can be mentioned, related to various aspects of the maritime industry: technological and environmental, economic and financial, managerial and operational. Among them, themes related to Green -and clean- Shipping through the use of alternative energy sources, digitalization and automation, the human element and ESG factors should be highly positioned in the list of prospects.

I assume that the aforementioned topics are further presented by other authors in the frame of the present edition. Therefore, I would opt to focus on a few other topics, perhaps less discussed, but crucial for the Greek shipping sector.

Prospects are related to Short Sea Shipping opportunities in Greece, the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions. The port system of the wider region is able to support new Short Sea connections and services between continental ports, as an alternative solution to inland transport. This modal shift is expected to contribute to the decongestion of road corridors and distribute more rationally freight traffic between modes, promoting Intermodality. According to recent research findings, it offers important business opportunities for the Greek shipping sector.

There are also prospects for the achievement of a “new normal “in the Supply Chain, considering lessons from the COVID pandemic period and the exacerbation just-intime delivery. A process of further upgrade of maritime logistics’ concepts and practices should be investigated, related to advanced flexibility in hinterland strategies and dynamic approaches for port choices.

At the national level, perspectives for the capitalization of the spectacular traffic increase at the Piraeus Container Terminal (PCT) should be noted. PCT mainly operates as a transshipment hub with ship-to-ship operations for approximately 85% of the traffic! Business opportunities arise for the Greek logistics industry to develop complementary cargo handling and logistics added value services, with significant expected impact for the Greek economy.

Finally, particular reference should be made on the theme of advanced scientific know-how in shipping and academic maritime studies in Greece and internationally. The ideal combination of solid theoretical background with interdisciplinary applied scientific knowledge is necessary for acquiring abilities to analyze complex situations and make decisions. To achieve this, key success factors are: academic extroversion, international cooperation and interaction between academia and industry. The relatively new “MBA in Shipping” of the University of the Aegean could be considered as a “best practice” of the above since: a) it established and capitalizes a continuous process of institutional dialogue and interaction between academia and industry and b) it combines English language with distance learning education methods.