Global shipping and maritime leaders met with the wider sector for three days at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore for Sea Asia 2025, a leading maritime event that has helped shape the challenges and opportunities, while declaring the importance of engaging with a changing world to deliver leadership and sustainability by serving as a marketplace for the global sector.
The global maritime industry meets in Singapore
In its 10th edition, Sea Asia saw the international maritime industry hearing from leaders and pioneers, showcasing solutions covering energy efficiency, future fuels and AI applications, and announcing new products, services, collaborations and agreements across the three days.
During the event, 55 sessions were presented across the main conference, Connexion Stage, Knowledge Sharing Theatre and Country Hotspots – including sessions led by the Panama Maritime Authority, British Chamber of Commerce Singapore, and Rotterdam Maritime Capital of Europe – and Executive Networking sessions – from the UK Hydrographic Office, International Paint and Seatrade Maritime News. The sessions provided valuable learning and networking opportunities, as well as highlighted investment potential across the marine value chain.
The maritime industry has great opportunities to adopt technologies that reduce emissions, improve efficiency, and enhance safety and security. During the show, Shipnet unveiled an AI-powered decision-making tool, ICE Telecom introduced a new satellite communications product, and Rakuten Maritime celebrated ClassNK’s recognition of its two products Rakuten-TM and Rakuten-SC. Innovative solutions on display at the exhibition will drive the energy and digital transitions. Long-standing exhibitors such as Alfa Laval, Singtel, Coway Marine, CSSC, Korean Registry, Noatum, and Wilhelmsen, came together with first-time exhibitors including Blue Wireless, International Paint, and Siemens Energy to connect, debate, and foster business growth.
Asian leadership
Amid geopolitical uncertainty, the maritime and shipping industry is facing new trade patterns. Delegates at the Sea Asia Global Forum heard about the resilience of the maritime sector from Christopher J Wiernicki, the Chairman and CEO at American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and from Mark Cameron, the Chief Operating Officer at Ardmore Shipping, on the importance of Singapore and wider South-East Asia as strong supporters of decarbonisation in shipping.
Illustrating the region’s progress, China has more than 1,000 projects already on ships to drive the green transformation, including the adoption of carbon capture and storage and green methanol projects. Discussions also extended to the financing landscape in shipping, which is largely dominated by Asian banks, as commented by Adam Kent, Managing Director at Maritime Strategies International in a shipbuilding focused panel.
Collaboration to deliver change
The call for collaboration echoed across the exhibition and conference. In talking on the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) upcoming MEPC 83 meeting in April 2025, Takeo Akamatsu, General Manager of Green Innovation Business Unit at ITOCHU Corporation, called on nations worldwide to reach an agreement on fuel standards and a structure for incentivising decarbonisation across the shipping industry.
Dr Martin Kröger of the German Shipowners’ Association (VDR) also highlighted the need for greater collaboration when talking on Europe’s four emissions trading systems in the EU, UK, Gibraltar and Turkey, which make it bureaucratically difficult to handle. The role of the IMO, and all delegates to the organisation in helping to close the gap in these regulations is key, he added.
Collaboration is not only required for the environmental regulatory landscape, but in data and connectivity too. In a panel discussing cybersecurity in shipping, Despina Panayiotou Theodosiou, Co-CEO at Tototheo Global, emphasised that the industry should embrace connectivity as it enables greater efficiency, but stressed the importance of shared responsibility to mitigate risks. In a later session, Ivan Landen, Chief Executive Officer at Blue Wireless and Harshavardhan Bhave, Director, Fleet Management at Pacific Basin addressed the lack of standardisation in satellite communications, the difficulty of investing in only one solution, and need for multiple LEO connectivity solutions for customers to mix and match.
Chu Kheng Sin, Managing Director, Regional Head of Transportation Finance at Standard Chartered Bank, noted that events such as Sea Asia are essential for fostering collaboration, sharing insights and working together to address the challenges faced by the shipping industry.
Flexibility for a multi-fuel future
The challenges of the energy transition were a major focus on the second day of the event. Speakers addressed how to scale alternative fuels, create pathways for immediate decarbonisation, and upskill seafarers for a multi-fuel future. Rodrigo Bermelho, Global Head of Shipping and Distribution at Vale, explained how the company is embracing multiple pathways to ensure it keeps its options open for working with owners and charterers.
Captain Ashutosh Kumar, Deputy General Manager, Decarbonisation Projects at MOL (Asia Oceania), explained that the shipping company was conducting many pilot projects and considering its long-term goals, looking at a range of fuels that included methanol, ammonia and LNG. Information sharing and collaboration will be key as the industry progresses to 2030, and onward to 2050.
Highlighting this challenge, Claudene Sharp-Patel, Global Technical Director at Lloyd’s Register, commented that new ways of working would require digital integration with fuels and systems, a challenge that would require collaboration across the supply chain to understand the risks and mitigate them.
Looking ahead
Sea Asia will return to Singapore between March 16-18, 2027, expanding to two levels and increasing exhibition space in Marina Bay Sands. The expanded event will offer exhibitors, speakers and attendees more opportunities to engage with and learn from their industry colleagues at Asia’s largest maritime event.
View more event photos here @ https://www.sea-asia.com/photo-gallery/
