Answering our industry’s most important distress call

Ahead of London International Shipping Week 2021, Ronald Spithout, President of Inmarsat Maritime posed a challenging but important question to his industry colleagues: Are we doing enough to protect the lives of millions of people out at sea? In this short interview, he concludes that while life-saving systems are most certainly in place, there is in fact a lot more that could and should be done. He paints a picture of an industry that lacks transparency when it comes to reporting the number of lives lost at sea, making it impossible to grasp the true scale of the problem - which in his eyes is significant.

Spithout goes on to describe the solution: digital and connected ships that reduce accidents by preventing them from happening in the first place, through the use of automatic systems of checking and monitoring that predict safety anomalies and prevent them from happening, much like those used in aviation.

Spithout also highlights the positive convergence between what is now possible in safety, and the operational and environmental benefits realised through this new technology. Adoption is a no-brainer. The distress call has gone out loud and clear to the industry: we need to do more to protect our seafarers - we already have the tools to do so and we as an collective industry can start right now.

Watch the full talk below.