Global Shipbuilders Discuss Market Downturn
From 19 till 20 October 2016, top executives from major shipbuilders from Japan, Europe, China, South-Korea and the United States met in Gyeongju (South-Korea) in the context of the 25th JECKU, to discuss the industry’s challenges in supply and demand and in addressing regulatory matters. This year’s meeting took place under extraordinary circumstances, notably against a background of a global shipbuilding industry experiencing very harsh demand contractions. Newbuilding demand has been low in practically all market segments of the shipbuilding industry, with the exception of passenger ships. All delegations expressed deep concerns about the current world economic situation.
Market Forces And Technology Will Shape The Future Of Shipping
We are living in a time of vigorous world growth and the liberalization and globalization of world trade, and no industry will be more central to this process than shipping. As in the past, our industry will be driven by the requirements of the market and by advancing technology, and over the next decade we can expect evolutions in the development of all types of ships. This is also a time of transition from prescriptive rules and regulations to the creation of an industry wide safety culture based on self-regulation and self-responsibility, and the classification societies will be at the heart of this. What sort of technical advances can we expect to see in the main types of ships throughout the next 10 years or so, and what will be the problems and risks involved?
