On September 23, 2023, the “Digitalization and Intelligentization” Forum of the 2023 North Bund Forum organized by CCS was held in the Starry Sky Hall of the Grand Halls in Shanghai.

With the theme of “Promote High-quality Development by Accelerating Digital and Intelligent Transportation”, the forum has attracted the guests including relevant government representatives, heads of international organizations, leading enterprises, representatives of authoritative institutions, and renowned experts and scholars, etc. to jointly discuss the opportunities and challenges faced in the process of promoting the upgrading and development of the digital and intelligent system for the shipping industry in a high-quality manner, and exchange practical experience, so as to jointly promote the continuous optimization and upgrading of the shipping industry structure. The forum was hosted by Fan Qiang, Vice President of CCS.

Fan Qiang, Vice President of CCS

At this Forum, Li Tianbi, Chief Engineer, Ministry of Transport of the P.R.C Director General, Water Transport Department delivered a welcome speech respectively to extend their sincerest welcome to the guests and shown their warm congratulations on the successful convening of the Forum.

Li Tianbi, Chief Engineer, Ministry of Transport of the P.R.C Director General, Water Transport Department

Li Tianbi said that the Ministry of Transport has taken the maritime industry as a leading field to accelerate the construction of a strong transportation state, and upheld digital-leading and smart empowerment to actively promote the construction of smart ports and smart waterways, so as to demonstrate the development of smart ships. In the future, the Ministry of Transport will further take efforts to strengthen the integration of technological innovation and consolidate the foundation of smart shipping development; accelerate the expansion of application scenarios and stimulate the development momentum of smart shipping; improve the smart logistics system of ports and shipping, and promote the exchange and mutual learning of smart shipping achievements.

Zhuang Mudi, Deputy Secretary General, Shanghai Municipal People’s Government

Zhuang Mudi said that the development of shipping industry has a significant impact on the global economy and trade. In his congratulatory letter to the first North Bund Forum, Chinese President Xi Jinping pointed out that it is important to follow the new trends of green, low-carbon, and intelligent shipping industry development. Therefore, it will be the future development trend of the shipping industry to lead the transformation of shipping with technological innovation and vigorously develop digital smart shipping, and empowerment with wisdom will also be an important means and strategic focus to promote the high-quality development of Shanghai International Shipping Center. Meanwhile, he also pointed out that in the future, Shanghai will continue to accelerate the construction of a new pattern for the development of international shipping centers, promote innovative breakthroughs in shipping technology, and continuously make efforts in improving ship technology service capabilities and building a digital intelligence shipping ecosystem, thereby accelerating the development of digital intelligence shipping.

Later, at the Forum, many attending experts made in-depth exchanges and sharing on the theme of the Forum.

Keynote Speech

Xu Zuyuan, Former MOT Vice Minister, IMO Maritime Ambassador

Xu Zuyuan, former MOT Vice Minister, IMO Maritime Ambassador delivered a keynote speech “Deepening the Integration of Digital Technology and Real Economy to Lead High-quality Development of the Shipping Industry”, and reviewed his experiences and thoughts from attending the previsions three sessions of the North Bund Forum. He said, “Over the past three years, I have witnessed that the venue has been moved from W Hotel to the Grand Halls, experienced the scene from limited number of on-site guests due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic to today’s full-sitting. I deeply realize that the forum has wider and larger influences, and the shipping industry is receiving more and more attention and support from society. He also shared his views on how the industry should deepen the integration of digital technology and real economy to lead high-quality development of the shipping industry four aspects, including “the integration of digital technology and real economy is an inevitable trend for high-quality development of the shipping industry”, “the integration of digital technology and real economy is a strong support for supplementing and strengthening the chain”, “establishing CDO system is an important push to achieve the integration of digital technology and real economy in the shipping industry”, and “the integration of digital technology and real economy is a powerful guarantee for enhancing industry resilience”.

Xu Chun, Deputy Director General Maritime Safety Administration of the People’s Republic of China

Xu Chun, Deputy Director General Maritime Safety Administration of the People’s Republic of China, and Vice Chairman of the Cross-strait Shipping Exchange Association, showed his views on shipping intelligence from three aspects, including “fully understand the significance of shipping intelligence development”, “objectively understand the needs faced by shipping intelligence development”, and “measures for intelligent development of maritime services and shipping”. Meanwhile, he pointed out that intelligent shipping is not only a technical issue, but also a comprehensive issue involving legal systems, industrial policies, management rules, talent protection, etc. For the purpose of intelligent shipping development, it is necessary for the government, research institutes, enterprises and other relevant parties to work together, and pool the wisdom and efforts to jointly create a new landscape for the development of intelligent shipping.

Nick Brown, Chairman, IACS

Nick Brown, Chairman, IACS. He said that for IACS, digital shipping industry and many digital applications that contribute to the development of shipping safety are receiving increasing attention. IACS has played a key role in promoting the establishment of relevant mechanisms such as IMO ship remote auditing. At the same time, IACS has also initiated projects for assessing complex marine technologies and system risk returns to assess their potential impact on SOLAS. All classification societies are actively committed to meeting the needs of different customers while upholding the standards and regulations.

Zhang Shouguo, Executive Vice Chairman, China Shipowners’Association

Zhang Shouguo, Executive Vice Chairman, China Shipowners’Association, delivered a speech “Reflections on Digital Empowerment of the Development of the Shipping Industry”. He mainly discussed the current situation and difficulties in the digital development of shipping enterprises from the perspective of Chinese shipping enterprises, and provided relevant suggestions on how to carry out digital transformation from three aspects of strengthening digital infrastructure construction, establishing cross-border sharing mechanisms, and maintaining the development of industry digital ecosystem.

Carlos Guedes Soares, Member of the Portuguese Academy of Engineering, Distinguished Professor of the Engineering Faculty of the University of Lisbon, the Head of CENTEC

Carlos Guedes Soares, Member of the Portuguese Academy of Engineering, Distinguished Professor of the Engineering Faculty of the University of Lisbon, the Head of CENTEC. He elaborated on his understanding of the development of green and intelligent technologies in the shipping industry, including green ships, energy transformation in the shipping industry, improving ship performance through energy efficiency, the current status and future prospects of the most advanced autonomous ship and intelligent ship technologies.

Sabrina Chao, Immediate Past President, The Baltic and International Maritime Council(BIMCO)

Sabrina Chao, Immediate Past President, The Baltic and International Maritime Council(BIMCO), proposed the urgency of accelerating correct decision-making, improving fleet efficiency, embracing intelligent solutions, and digital solutions. She stated that digital, efficient, and intelligent solutions can help the industry reduce emissions. Moreover, she also mentioned such issues as electronic bills of lading

Lv Zhiyong, President, Shanghai Merchant Ship Design and Research Institute

Lv Zhiyong, President of CSSC Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Institute (SDARI), delivered a keynote speech “Intelligent Ship Research and Practice” based on the R&D of intelligent ships by SDARI, and he mentioned the following three points: SDARI’s understanding of intelligent ships; the R&D progress of SDARI intelligent ships; the application of DOSS system. He pointed out that as an emerging field in the era of digital and intelligent technology, intelligent ships have become the trend in the global shipping industry, which is associated with the upgrading and innovation of the entire shipping industry. Meanwhile, the development of intelligent ships requires more open and closer industry cooperation to actively collaborate and innovate with enterprises in different fields including equipment, information, communication, etc.

Andreas Nordseth, Director General, Danish Maritime Authority

Andreas Nordseth, Director General, Danish Maritime Authority pointed out in his keynote speech “Promoting Digital Transformation” that emission reduction and digitization have become potential powerful driving forces for maritime technology, and digital development has potential huge impacts on safety, resilience, greenness, and energy efficiency. In the process of future full-speed digital development, it is worth considering the ultimate whereabouts of the industry. At the same time, he proposed the view that the industry should have a common digital vision.

Zhao Yan, Vice President of CCS

Zhao Yan, Vice President of CCS, delivered a speech “Promote Deep Development of Shipping Transformation by Accelerating the Research on Digital Intelligence Technology”. From “digital intelligence promotes the transformation of shipping”, “taking advantage of the times to support the development of shipping digital intelligence”, and “working together and forging ahead bravely towards a new era of digital intelligence empowerment”, he talked about the key role of empowering the shipping industry with digital intelligence, CCS’s efforts for the development of digital intelligence technology in the shipping industry, and how CCS actively explores and innovates boldly to create value for the industry and customers by focusing on industry safety and green development in the process of serving the transformation of shipping digital intelligence. 

In addition, as one of the climaxes of the Forum, the round table discussion hosted by Fan Qiang, Vice President of CCS has attracted many experts and industry elites who were interested in the development of intelligent ship technology. Many internationally renowned experts participated in this round table discussion, including Carlos Guedes Soares, Academician of the Portuguese Academy of Engineering, Stephen Gordon, Managing Director  of Clarkson Research Services Limited, Andreas Nordseth, Director-General, Danish Maritime Authority, Zhang Shouguo, Executive Vice Chairman of China Shipowners’ Association (CSA), and Zhuang Wei, General Manager, Asia, the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO). By focusing on the development of intelligent ship technology, they discussed how all parties can promote the development and innovation of the shipping industry in the wave of digital intelligence. The experts shared the latest research results and practical experience in their respective fields, and made in-depth discussions on the application potentials of intelligent ship technology in improving shipping safety, energy conservation and emission reduction, reducing operating costs, etc.