Blogs

The rapid manner in which technology is advancing has a direct correlation with the maritime industry and will eventually usher in a much digitally advanced future. As the experts believe and with time, it’s becoming clearly evident that automation is a powerful, paradigm-shifting process that can strongly affect the ports and terminal arena of the marine sector. We cannot overlook the fact that automation has altered the perception of the global economy to the world and has been steadily giving rise to newer opportunities and more realistic goals. Though the groundbreaking concept of automation is essentially aimed to make lives much easier, it is still unsure as to how things will eventually pan out in the end for the employees attached to the shipping profession. According to a recent report published by the BBC, there is a possibility that no less than 1.5 million people in the UK could lose their jobs with the onset and popularity of automation and of course, it does sound like an unfortunate prediction. In the current scenario, the maritime industry does require the involvement of human workforce till now and the possibility of thousands of maritime professionals bidding goodbye to their source of income does seem quite alarming. The advent of smart, intelligent technologies like automation can indeed pose as a huge threat to employment and this in turn, is creating a negative vibe regarding the acceptance of the new-age ideas. Throwing light on this matter, the International Chamber Of Shipping (ICS) has assured that there will be no shortage of work for those who are interested in devoting their lives at sea and maintaining the services and supervising the operations of vessels as required. But it seems unlikely that the negative impact will not play an instrumental role in rendering the need for manual power as useless. If we shift our focus to the maritime workforce as prevalent in the not-so-developed regions with not-so-advanced amenities, it will take some time for the automation movement to be implemented in the day-to-day systems. As a consequence, it will also delay the problem of unemployment to a great extent and the maritime professionals can provide their services for a longer period. It is clearly the opposite case when it comes to the more advanced ports and well-developed terminals where automation has the right kind of investment to be adapted early into the systems and unfortunately, can lead to an inevitable outcome of serious unemployment. The earlier generation of maritime workers could resist this colossal change with the benefits drawn from a ‘sustained trade growth’, but things are not looking so hopeful in case of the present situation where the steady growth of digitization has the potential to revamp the way the industry is used to. Those who believe in focusing on the positive side of the digital era, is looking forward to the fact that the interesting innovations can be pretty exciting to handle on a daily basis. Of course, the human skills involved in a manual workforce needs to undergo a few adaptive changes to be able to deal with the digital-based scenario in the world of shipping. Keeping in mind the revolutionary change that is likely to take over the maritime arena, the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and World Maritime University (WMU) has jointly released a report that highlights the fact that the automation-based scenario should enable the seafarers to handle the newly launched technologies with increased knowledge. Many experts believe that the introduction of the well-equipped machinery that runs on automation will drastically improve the state of work at the ports and terminals. Imagine the crane operators are handling the rather complicated and definitely dangerous machinery from the control room where they will be safe and sound. Highlighting the good aspects (keeping aside the not-so-good ones) of the theory of automation, it is advisable for the maritime institutions to allow a re-training session to the existing employees, so that they are armed with renewed knowledge to tackle the modern-day equipment. Weighing the pros and cons of the concept of automation, the shipping organizations have to come up with improved solutions, smart training methods and avant-garde projects to be able to adapt better to the technologies that focus on augmented and virtual reality. As the companies are striving hard to meet the growing demands of the customers, many ports and terminals (like Rotterdam) are showing interest in high-grade logistics and simulation training for its workers. Like in the case of the container shipping sector, the need for automation must be laid stress on as handling large-sized vessels can become a lot more convenient. The companies should certainly encourage these high-tech training programs for the employees, in order to protect their future from the clutches of unemployment.