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SHOULD you wish to list all of the various risks, roadblocks, unresolved problems and known challenges ahead for the shipping industry you will need a long piece of paper and ideally some medical assistance on standby.

This is not a task for the faint of heart or those of a nervous disposition.

You might start with some of the old favourites — supply chain instability, barriers to trade and administrative burdens on an industry ill-equipped to deal with them are all still bubbling away raising the sector’s blood pressure. Cyber risk, protectionism, the rise of the dark fleet, seafarer training and recruitment, autonomy… the list just goes on.

But, given the geopolitical upheaval that now threatens to blow up, on a daily basis, the risk hotlist is looking spicier than usual this year.

How do we deal with this growing “to do” list from hell? How is it possible for such a fragmented industry do tackle decarbonisation and digitalisation amid a fracturing geopolitical framework, on top of the business-as-usual risk list that threatens to scupper the best laid plans of those who carry global trade on a daily basis?

Shipping’s post-Covid, post-Ever Given (IMO: 9811000) public profile has never been greater, but more importantly, the industry’s political capital is at an all-time high.

This week, Lloyd’s List’s editor-in-chief Richard Meade talks to the European Community Shipowners’ Associations, the Singapore Shipowners’ Association and International Chamber of Shipping about what’s on their agenda and where they see the greatest challenges, and solutions for shipping.

Joining Richard are:

• Sotiris Raptis, secretary-general, European Community Shipowners’ Associations

• Caroline Yang, president, Singapore Shipowners’ Association

• Guy Platten, secretary-general, International Chamber of Shipping