In tech we trust?

The relationship between shipowners and technology providers must be fixed to save shipping’s decarbonisation ambitions, writes Benny Hilström, vice president of business development at WinGD.

Shipowners and operators need technology providers that keep their promises in order to avoid frustration, disruption and delay. That applies in day-to-day operations and is even more critical when promises are made around new technologies that require significant investments.

As someone who has worked on both sides of the technology provider/shipowner relationship, I see worrying signs that this essential trust is being eroded – and putting commercial and environmental sustainability at risk. Our industry needs to move forward with bold decisions and commitments to our decarbonisation ambitions, but this can only happen from a foundation of trust. 

As a shipowner, you spend up-front based on assurances of future performance. So when technology underperforms, is unreliable, or fails to meet initial claims, trust erodes. The problem is compounded when suppliers shift blame, revise earlier performance guarantees or deliver slow, costly resolutions. This undermines confidence not just in the technology but in the providers themselves.

This erosion of trust becomes even more significant when it comes to decarbonisation investments. With soaring stakes and mounting carbon costs, shipowners are hesitant to commit, often due to overpromised claims or technologies abandoned when challenges arise. This cycle of disappointment only slows decision-making, making it harder to take the bold steps needed.

No doubt, supplying innovative technologies is tough. Suppliers invest upfront in the solutions they think customers will need only to find the wind has changed – this fuel is out of fashion, that regulation throws a curveball, someone else has gotten there first. The pressure to go to market first and to sell in volume is enormous to recoup research and development spending, including all those dead ends.

The trust of customers cannot be sacrificed to market pressures. Unlike consumer goods, maritime technology failures come with significant long-term costs. For the supplier, this means taking responsibility, delivering fast and cost-effective solutions, and fostering genuine collaboration.

Meaningful partnership, mutual transparency and aligned interests are the key to a supplier-customer relationship in shipping. Those ideas are often touted but seldom deployed. Across my experience spanning both ship technology and shipowning, the partnerships maintained on this basis have been successful. Having the owner fully engaged from the very start – whether you are designing a new engine or trialling a new service concept – happens to be the best way to deliver a solution the shipowner needs in a way the technology company can manage.

The technical challenges facing shipping are extreme as we grapple with climate ambitions, the optimisation potential of digitalisation and a trade outlook that is increasingly volatile. Even the biggest companies – including the ones I have worked for – cannot do it alone. Trusted partnerships are the only solution both to those challenges and to more successful day-to-day ship operations.

By prioritising trust and accountability, the industry can overcome technical challenges, optimise operations and realise its decarbonisation ambitions. Without it, the path to a sustainable maritime future remains in jeopardy.