Digital economy increasingly impacting shipping – are you prepared?

The recently published PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC) German Shipping Survey 2017 revealed that one in two German shipping companies have already been heavily impacted by digitalisation and 84% expect online portals to grow in importance.

Once a year, PwC publishes its survey of German shipping companies. This report published in July 2017 highlighted the increasing impact of digitalisation on shipping. More than 80% of German shipping companies expect online applications soon to become a matter of course for customers, e.g. booking sea-borne transport via an online portal. The shipping companies interviewed have been impacted to a differing extent by the rise of the digital economy. Around half said they had been affected by major changes, 41% less so and 10% felt they had not been affected at all.

PwC highlights the dangers of ignoring digitalisation, pointing out that far too many shipping companies are lulling themselves into a false sense of security by thinking that digitalisation will simply sail by and leave their traditional business models unaffected. Although 57% of the interviewees judged themselves to be digitally competent, 43% suspected digital deficiencies and thought they weren’t well equipped for the challenges of the digital economy. A PwC expert quoted in the report believes that the platform effect evident in other industries could well become a feature of shipping.

This is where FleetMon can provide valuable assistance. Dozens of online platforms already exist for ship owners, operators or charterers to upload their content. At FleetMon we already have the relevant content, e.g. ETAs, historical tracking data, event handling, alerting, etc. It’s there for you to access – and equip yourself for the digitalised future of shipping.

By the way, this PwC survey also brought some good news: over 70% of the interviewees predicted global ship-borne cargo volumes would increase over the next five years. With light now appearing at the end of the shipping tunnel it’s a good time to invest in digitalisation to avoid any digital deficiencies.