Navigating challenging waters

A new report from the Danish Maritime Forum sets out new ideas to address five of the most important challenges the global maritime industry is facing. The report is a product of the discussions which took place at the maritime summit in Copenhagen last month.

November 26 2015

Frontrunners in the industry should take the lead to proactively address the most important challenges the industry is facing. This seemed to be a common view when more than 200 industry senior leaders, government officials and other influential decision-makers and opinion shapers from across the global maritime industry recently assembled in Copenhagen for the second Danish Maritime Forum. The main focus was on what steps might be taken to strengthen cooperation between all maritime stakeholders to benefit society and the industry at large.

“The maritime industry is the backbone of globalisation and international trade. In order to unleash its full potential and contribute to human wellbeing through growth and development all around the world most participants in the Danish Maritime Forum agreed that frontrunners in the industry could do a lot to advance collaboration, heighten standards and proactively engage with policymakers on the regulatory landscape of the future,” says Anne H. Steffensen Chairman of Danish Maritime Days.

Close coordination between the many sector-specific organisations and the need for a more open and transparent approach in the traditionally inward-looking industry was also carried forward in many of the cross-cutting working group discussions.

New ideas and ways forward
Working in groups, the participants in the Danish Maritime Forum addressed five critical issues: the imperative to innovate, how to attract the next generation of maritime leaders, how to improve the public’s perception of the industry, opportunities and challenges in investing in emerging markets and the future governance of the industry.

“The report sets out a number of interesting new ideas and ways forward concerning some of the most important challenges that the industry is facing. This illustrates the importance of working together, exchanging ideas and engaging with peers from across the industry on key issues. All key elements of the Danish Maritime Forum,” Chairman Steffensen concludes.

The report also presents a number of snapshots from Danish Maritime Days 2015. Throughout the week of 5-9 October the Danish Maritime Days platform hosted more than 80 independent maritime events.