In the latest of our blogs, picking the brains of resident NAVTOR experts, we ask Jacob Clausen, Performance Director, for his take on the challenges, opportunities and developments shaping the shipping industry. Read on to discover Jacob’s fascinating insights…

What do you see as the most noteworthy development in the industry over the course of the last year?

In a word, decarbonisation. Or rather, the step change in requirements to help enable it.

1 January 2025 marked a line in the sand, with FuelEU Maritime (FEUM) entering into force, effectively accelerating the uptake of lower-carbon fuels by introducing GHG-intensity targets for energy used on board, supported by flexibility mechanisms (e.g., pooling/borrowing) and financial penalties for non-compliance. This comes on top of the already implemented EU ETS, which places a direct carbon price on emissions through the purchase of EU Allowances, increasing the cost of operating carbon-intensive tonnage. Seen together, these are game-changing regulations.

However, not everything went as planned for those pushing this ‘new breed’ of regulatory frameworks. A key global development was the unexpected outcome at the IMO MEPC level: namely, that the Net-Zero Framework was not adopted as anticipated, with the decision to defer to October 2026.

Although this much-publicised non-event delays regulatory certainty, the direction of travel remains clear. There remains significant pressure for measures to be adopted around 2028, so the momentum toward compliance planning, fuel strategy, and technology choices continues. Decarbonisation is a true driving force within the industry.

What key challenges face shipping companies and professionals in 2026 (and beyond)?

There’s no shortage, that’s for sure.

The issue that understandably dominates the headlines is geopolitics. We have entered an age of uncertainty, and that has major ramifications for this most global of industries – with trade disruption, growing tensions, sanctions, and an unpredictable development in trade policies and tariffs that undermines any sense of ‘business as usual’. It’s a major concern for stakeholders throughout the industry.

A challenge with a more positive underlying motivation is regulatory compliance. From 1 July 2026, the UK Emission Trading Scheme (UK ETS) will expand to include the domestic maritime sector, targeting vessels of 5,000 GT or above. Furthermore, the industry is also looking to the outcome of the IMO MEPC84 (27 April to 1 May) to understand the development of the IMO’s GHG package under the next steps for the Net-Zero Framework. This would form the basis for potential adoption following MEPC85 (16-27 November). As readers will be well aware, the framework will increase the complexity of compliance and costs for owners and technical managers. In this context, and will further emission regulations from EU, UK and IMO, vessel performance, optimisation and, efficiency become increasingly important. Energy saved is money saved. In other words, it makes very sound business sense, not just regulatory sense, to drive down energy use and emissions.

Away from the regulatory sphere, increased digitalisation creates risks and opportunities, particularly in terms of cybersecurity, with IoT integration increasing vulnerability to ransomware and other threats.

There are also some digital-transformation blockers that still need to be removed. For example, while interest in unlocking the value of telemetry data is increasing, significant barriers remain due to fragmented systems and inconsistent standards. This makes collaboration and interoperability across vendors and platform providers challenging, to say the least.

How can NAVTOR work to help its global customers meet these challenges? 

One of the greatest benefits to our customers is the fact that NAVTOR’s unique digital ecosystem works as a single, unified operational platform. This forms a firm foundation for ever smarter, more connected, safe and secure operations, with strong partnerships for delivering an optimised, user friendly, one-stop shop for data integration and digital transformation. Of particular relevance here is:

• NavFleet Monitoring: Providing an overview of fleet operation and managing risks e.g. weather and navigational risk

• NavFleet E&C subscription: Simplifying and easing the process of producing annual emission compliance records to EU, UK and IMO; reclaiming compliance costs from charterers using “voyage statements” which covers both EU ETS and FuelEU; leveraging smart decision tools such as “emission simulator” to consider different solutions for future fuels for cost effective emission compliance.

• NavFleet Performance: saving fuel, as well as compliance costs, by optimising hull cleaning decisions, providing a decision support and business case for doing cleaning and not sticking to fixed intervals.

Looking into your crystal ball, what issues do you believe will define maritime developments in the year to come?

Going back to the challenges mentioned earlier, I believe operational resilience will become a defining capability in the current geopolitical climate. Shipping companies will need stronger resilience and systems to manage the rapidly shifting risk picture driven by uncertainty, supply-chain disruption, changing trade patterns, and greater scrutiny on safety, security, and continuity of operations. Calm heads and clear planning will be essential.

I also expect continued market consolidation across ownership and ship management as scale becomes increasingly important to manage compliance complexity, technology investment, operational efficiency, and rising cost pressure. This will extend into the vendor ecosystem as customers demand more integrated and standardised solutions.

As already discussed, IMO’s global Net-Zero Framework could be a major inflection point. When MEPC adopts a global emissions framework and sets an enforcement date that puts a real cost on emissions, it will be a game-changer for the industry. Maritime has historically moved fastest when regulations require change, not when it’s optional, so shifting from regional EU/UK schemes to a global level playing field will accelerate decarbonisation and raise the urgency of compliance readiness. It will also increase the need for trusted data, audit-ready reporting, and decision-support tools, while pushing operators towards more efficient operations and a faster uptake of solutions that work to reduce emissions. Again, the need to stay ahead of developments – to be proactive rather than reactive – will be key to unlocking advantage.

What’s one maritime innovation you wish existed but doesn’t (yet)?

One innovation I wish existed is a globally adopted ‘commercial + digital’ framework that makes just-in-time arrival the commercial default model. This could combine port/terminal readiness data, just-in-time speed advice, and weather routing, and embed it into charter party terms so everyone is incentivised to follow it. That would be a transformative step forward for efficient, predictable, safe operations.

Today, a large share of shipping operates in tramp-style trades (around 70%), where vessels are often commercially driven to steam at an instructed Charter Party speed and then wait at anchor to maximise vessel earning, rather than dynamically adjusting speed to real port availability. A practical commercial solution with standard clauses, agreed data sharing, and a settlement model for time/fuel/carbon, would unlock wide adoption and deliver meaningful near-term emissions reductions.

At NAVTOR, we’re already working towards this through weather routing and just-in-time initiatives in industry research projects such as GASS and Dynaport, using machine-to-machine data exchange with ports. Looking ahead, AI and richer real-time data, can make this truly scalable by providing high-confidence, probability-based arrival windows that commercial stakeholders can trust.

I see this a ‘holy grail’ for the industry… and one that could well be in reach in the years to come.