Shipping is one of the most challenging industries to decarbonise, due to the long lifespan of assets and the limited number of viable pathways for reducing emissions.

Responsible for 3% of the total global greenhouse gas emissions — equivalent to the world’s top ten polluting countries — shipping faces significant technological, social and energy disruption on the horizon.

Eaglestar, a global provider of integrated marine services, believes shipmanagers can play a significant role in advocating and piloting shipping’s energy transition.

“Industry players must embrace new technologies and collaborate across sectors to achieve a net zero future. Cross-sectoral partnerships foster innovation and overcome barriers to decarbonisation, accelerating the transition to a sustainable shipping industry,” says Captain Peter Liew, managing director and CEO of Eaglestar.

“For instance, in the development of alternative fuel technologies, such as ammonia, there are multiple risks that need to be carefully examined from various perspectives, hence the need for collaboration and sharing of risks across the value chain,” says Capt. Peter.

As one of the industry’s pioneers in managing LNG dual-fuel and alternative fuels vessels, and operating gas carriers for more than 30 years, Eaglestar says it has contributed knowledge and experience to fuel technology development and work with stakeholders to develop safe and effective usage of fuel technology.

The company, with a worldwide workforce of more than 5,000, operates and maintains a modern, diversified fleet of some 100 vessels including LNG dual-fuel petroleum tankers, LNG carriers (conventional steam, DFDE and X-DF), ethane carriers, LNG bunkering vessel (LBV), dynamic positioning shuttle tankers (DP2), crude and product/chemical tankers, LNG floating storage units (FSUs) and marine containment vessels (MCVs).

The fleet is supported by Eaglestar’s global office network including maritime hubs Houston, Kuala Lumpur, London, Rio de Janeiro, Rotterdam and Singapore.

In addition to its Centre of Excellence, Eaglestar provides sponsorship opportunities for aspiring cadets to study at the MISC Group’s maritime education and training facility, the Malaysian Maritime Academy (ALAM). Graduating cadets join Eaglestar’s fleet and receive post-sea training at ALAM.

Such human investment, says Capt. Peter, is recognition of Eaglestar’s role in supporting the maritime industry’s decarbonisation journey by ensuring that its global workforce at sea and onshore are future-ready and capable of addressing the wide spectrum of technical and operational challenges.

He says harnessing the benefits of digitalisation enhances safety and risk management, vessel performance monitoring, predictive maintenance, fuel optimisation, and voyage planning. The implementation of technologies and solutions, such as data analytics and automation, streamlines processes, optimises resource allocation, and makes data-driven decisions. It also enables better connectivity and collaboration, improving operational coordination and responsiveness.

“While digitalisation could be perceived like any other business transformation, it is important to consider both the man and the machine at the same time. In reality, the transformation would involve not only the replacement of devices or process enhancement but also the psychology which means making sure that our people at sea and ashore are well equipped to adapt to the change and ensure that both humans and machines are capable of supporting a company’s goals in the long term,” says Capt. Peter.”