WHETHER you were listening to turgid ministerial speeches or engaging in insurance analysis and forecasting, this week’s business as usual for shipping felt a bit different for many of us because, for the first time in a very long time, much of the discussion was conducted live, rather from behind a screen.

London International Shipping Week and IUMI — the annual marine insurance get-together — have offered some interesting headlines from the various debates and conferences, but the content was almost secondary to the rather startling fact that people were having the discussions up close and personal.

Now we know that not everyone was able to join in person and we are well aware the majority of podcast listeners are outside the UK, but the topics under discussion this week in London are significant for the entire industry.

With that in mind, we gathered a handful of our intrepid editorial explorers who have been out and about selflessly ploughing their way through canapes and schlepping from cocktail reception to conference this week, all with the intention of giving you an insight into what this all means and what we have learned this week.

Editor Richard Meade is joined live in the room by reporter Declan Bush, chief correspondent Richard Clayton and beamed in from the remote east London outpost of Lloyd’s List Towers, insurance and law editor David Osler. 

The team discuss their key takeaways from the week, covering everything from the environmental debates as industry and politicians jostle for position in advance of COP, the rising dominance of Chinese marine insurance, and why the UK shipping minister may need to offer more than tales of his teenage bedroom wall to win round the shipping industry.