Mckinsey News

This is the dawning of the age of AI and Big Data, huge agglomerations of new and transformative energy; almost self-generating, always strengthening and pulling at the reins, seeking to break free and run, a prospect both exciting and terrifying. That image can imply a human is holding the reins. How quaint: these days, AI itself may be holding the reins.In a review of innovation in 2023 – across any industrial or economic sector, not just maritime – AI looms large, a game-changer equivalent to IBM’s programming advances in the 1940s.

Hornblower Group on Monday announced the promotions of several key members of its leadership team.“These changes within the leadership team represent a significant milestone for Hornblower Group as we forge ahead in working toward our company’s ambitions goals,” said Kevin Rabbitt, Chief Executive Officer for Hornblower Group. “I have full confidence that this group, with their impressive backgrounds and extensive industry knowledge, will significantly contribute to supporting our company's overall business strategy and lead us toward a successful future.

Norwegian energy industry giant Equinor has appointed of Samuel Byrne as Vice President of Operations at Equinor Renewables Americas to lead Equinor's offshore wind operations in the U.S.Bryne most recently served as Vice President responsible for Operations & Maintenance at maker Vestas Wind Systems in Asia-Pacific for both onshore and offshore wind farms, as well as solar and battery storage sites. His responsibilities covered 13 countries and approximately 15GW of wind farms either in operations or being commissioned…

Unions hope a $30 million grant to electrify tractors in a Long Beach, California, port terminal's final push to become the world's first zero-emissions facility will serve as a bulwark against lost jobs in an era of energy transition and increasing automation. The money from U.S. President Joe Biden's administration for Long Beach Container Terminal's purchase of 60 electric yard tractors that haul shipping containers from stacks to waiting trains comes with strings attached…

The maritime industry’s movement toward remote vessel operations will not only build a more diverse workforce, it will benefit from it, argues marine robotics company Ocean Infinity.Greater workforce diversity, whether it be considered along lines of ethnicity, gender identity, sexuality, age, socioeconomic status, neurotype, physical ability or any other parameter, has shifted over the course of the last decade from a ‘nice to have’ to a fundamental value. The modern view of society that the thought leaders at Ocean Infinity subscribe to, is often characterized as ‘intersectionality’.

Eric Chewning, former chief of staff to the U.S. Secretary of Defense and deputy assistant secretary for industrial policy, is joining HII as executive vice president, Strategy & Development, reporting directly to HII President and CEO Chris Kastner. Chewning assumes the role on Jan. 30.Chewning joins HII as it grows its customer set across the armed forces and executes on its significant shipbuilding backlog for its primary customer, the U.S. Navy. HII is the nation’s only builder of aircraft carriers and its largest military shipbuilder…

John Ehresmann loves that the cost of shipping an ocean container from Asia to a U.S. port or buying a load of lumber has fallen back to earth.If only that were true for everything he buys — but it’s not.Some parts of his supply chain have clearly improved, said the vice president of global supply for Graco Inc, the Minneapolis-based maker of fluid handling equipment such as paint sprayers. But the complex nature of global supply chains means that companies like Graco are still struggling…

The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) earlier this month awarded a $50 million federal grant to H2theFuture, a 25-organization partnership aiming to develop a new energy cluster in South Louisiana, spanning the clean hydrogen life cycle, from R&D at Louisiana universities, to an end-use project at the Port of South Louisiana.The award is one of 21 projects from around the country chosen from 529 applicants that were funded by a $1 billion appropriation from the American Rescue Plan Act…

Dr. Holger Klein, Member of the Board of Management responsible for the Asia-Pacific region, Car Chassis Technology Division, Aftermarket and Production, will succeed Wolf-Henning Scheider as Chairman and CEO of ZF Friedrichshafen AG at the end of 2022.At the same time, Dr. Peter Laier will join the Board of Management to lead the Commercial Vehicle Solutions (CVS) and Industrial Technology divisions succeeding Wilhelm Rehm. ZF Chief Financial Officer Dr. Konstantin Sauer will leave the company by the end of 2022 after many years of service.

Freight and logistics insurer TT Club said it has appointed Kevin Blunsum as its first Chief Technology Officer.Blunsum is a highly experienced and well-respected member of the London-market insurance community. Over his 30-year career he has held a variety of positions engaged in insurance technology development and change management with Deloitte, EY, Accenture, and more recently with Aspen Insurance as Director of Business Transformation.Blunsum will be working closely with Lisa Gibbard…

“30 by 30” is the rallying cry for all concerned with the burgeoning U.S. offshore wind business. In Spring 2021, the Secretaries of Energy, Interior and Commerce resolved to deploy 30 gigawatts (GW) of electricity generated from offshore turbines by 2030. Consultants McKinsey, in a recent article frame the value proposition for this clean fuel source, writing: “During the industry’s 30-year evolution, costs have fallen so sharply that offshore wind now compares favorably with competing energy sources.” For vessel owners, renewable energy brings opportunity.The thrust of near-term U.S.

Hydrogen is touted as an inevitable green fuel of the future. Tell that to the people who'll have to ship it across the globe at hyper-cold temperatures close to those in outer space.Yet that is exactly what designers are attempting to do.In the biggest technological challenge for merchant shipping in decades, companies are beginning to develop a new generation of vessels that can deliver hydrogen to heavy industry, betting plants worldwide will convert to the fuel and propel the transition to a lower-carbon economy.There are at least three projects developing pilot ships that will be ready to test transporting the fuel in Europe and Asia within the next three years…

Carnival's luxury cruise brand Seabourn announced Thursday that Josh Leibowitz has been named president, effective immediately. He will report to Stein Kruse, group CEO of Holland America Group and Carnival UK.Leibowitz joined Carnival Corporation in 2013 as chief strategy officer and was also named senior vice president of Cunard North America in 2016. He previously served as managing partner of the Miami office of the consulting firm McKinsey & Co.He succeeds Rick Meadows, who retired at the end of May after 35 years with Carnival Corporation…

Andreas Enger will replace Thor Jørgen Guttormsen as CEO of Höegh Autoliners effective September 8, 2020.Enger has served as an advisor to Höegh Autoliners for more than a year and became CFO in September 2019.Prior to joining Höegh Autoliners, he was a partner at Deloitte, leading its Nordic strategy practice. Earlier in his career Enger was a partner at McKinsey & Co and subsequently held senior executive positions at Norske Skog, PGS and Peterson Packaging. He holds a MSc in Engineering Cybernetics from NTNU in Norway, and an MBA from INSEAD in France.

The environment in oil patches onshore and offshore alike has been challenging throughout 2019; worries about an economic slowdown – whether cyclical or induced by a trade war – have weighed heavily on oil prices, even in the face of reduced production by the big producers. Though storm clouds persist, there appears a clearing on the horizon.The fate of Offshore Service Vessels (OSVs) is, naturally, closely tied to the price of oil. Seacor Marine’s John Gellert, in reviewing its Q2 results, said: “Activity levels in the U.S.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML): mention these two terms and the listener may instantly think of the ads displayed as you view your favorite online news site. This is one version of what AI/ML might be. Given the state of AI and ML research today, these advanced mathematical techniques represent something the U.S. Coast Guard should explore for mission application. To do this, common definitions need to be created, challenges understood, and practical use…

North American LNG exports will grow quickly until 2023 then plateau until a second wave of capacity comes online from 2025, McKinsey Energy Insights said in 2019 North American Gas Outlook.Global LNG supply overcapacity puts pressure on US liquefaction capacity utilization, which has among the highest marginal costs, it said.Balancing out global LNG overcapacity is equivalent to an average US LNG capacity utilization rate of 70% from 2019-21. Construction delays primarily at Cameron and Freeport prevent new capacity from coming online until the global LNG market has recovered in ~2021.Slowdown in North American projects is expected from 2021-24 as new international LNG supply comes online…

Hapag-Lloyd has announced that Maximilian Rothkopf  is to be its new chief operating officer (COO). He will take over as new COO of Hapag-Lloyd when Anthony J. Firmin retires in late June.Maximilian Rothkopf, who holds a master's degree as well as a doctorate in business administration, has been a Partner since 2014 at McKinsey & Company, where he has been a member of the global Travel, Transport and Logistics (TTL) leadership team. He started his career in 2005 at the management consulting firm, where he has particularly provided advice to larger liner shipping companies, airlines and numerous other globally operating logistics companies.In his new role as the COO of Hapag-Lloyd…

Global hyperloop pioneer Virgin Hyperloop One elects Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem as Chairman and Jay Walder as CEO as company leverages new round of funding to begin implementation of hyperloop from Pune to Mumbai.Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem is the Group Chairman and CEO of DP World. Jay Walder, who is one of the world’s leading mass transportation and technology executives, has been appointed as its new CEO. Walder will also join the company’s Board of Directors.The selection of a new senior management team will allow Virgin Hyperloop One to transition its focus from technology startup to mass transportation company beginning with the implementation of the world’s first hyperloop system running from Pune to Mumbai.

ZF Friedrichshafen AG's Supervisory Board has appointed Sabine Jaskula and Dr. Holger Klein to the company's Board of Management.Jaskula, an experienced HR manager and lawyer, will be responsible for Corporate HR and Legal functions from latest January 1, 2019. In this function, she will also be in charge of compliance. Dr. Klein has been appointed to ZF's Board of Management with effect from October 1, 2018. His responsibilities will include Car Chassis Technology and Aftermarket (service and parts business).

Nimble and quick, unmanned aerial vehicles have evolved into a valuable tool for marine and offshore applications.When a U.S. oil tanker conducts a Critical Area Inspection Plan (CAIP) as required by ABS, it is an onerous process. For example, each tank requires seven days of set up with scaffolding and staging. An ABS inspector and UDT technicians must access, and be carefully lowered into the tank with instrumentation and tools. Inspection points in far reaching places are surveyed.

Diana Shipping announced that, effective August 1, 2018, the Company increased the size of its Board of Directors from nine to eleven members.The global shipping company specializing in the ownership of dry bulk vessels appointed Christos Glavanis to serve as a Class I Director and appointed Mr. Andreas Michalopoulos, the Company’s Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, to serve as a Class III director, in each case effective August 1, 2018.The Board has determined that Glavanis is an “independent director” as such term is defined under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the New York Stock Exchange Listing Manual.Christos Glavanis has over 30 years of experience in the audit profession…

Delegates from the world’s leading ports have come together to examine their role in the rapidly evolving maritime logistics landscape and in particular to coordinate their contribution to the establishment of an interconnected maritime supply chain at the Port of Barcelona.The multilateral partnership of the world leading ports, ChainPORT, has just concluded its 4th Annual Meeting which was hosted last week by the Port of Barcelona.ChainPORT was initiated in 2016 by the Port Authorities of Hamburg and Los Angeles in collaboration with the Global Institute of Logistics with the goal of raising awareness of the key role that Port Authorities…