Slide2Open Communications, true to its annual appointment with the Shipping World, organized the 5th Slide2Open Shipping Finance 2022 Conference. With a combination of live and recorded interviews, speeches and live panel discussions between 110 World Class Speakers, some remotely connected and others physically present on an impressive TV set, the live broadcast of the conference, which took place on Wednesday 2 and Thursday 3 March 2022, set an attendance record with 15,000 “unique participants” from 52 different countries (106,000 page views). Unique participants are expected to double in the coming 2 months.

Concluding Remarks:
• Euphoria is for real, but it is not sustainable. Trade will continue to flourish, but will most probably focus more on Africa, India and China. Rising protectionism may pose risks.
• Electrification and autonomy are now being developed. Battery powered vessels could be a solution for especially in short sea shipping and island traffic, but not for longer haul.
• 2021 has been an excellent year, though not across all sectors of the shipping industry. Shipping is part of a big chain, it accounts for 80% of the volume of goods carried, but has a relatively small voice. Regrettably shipping does not have the political weight. Big countries do not have substantial shipping.
• ESG is evolving and is becoming more relevant in financing decisions, but much depends on the relationship between the financier and the shipping company.
• The debate on sustainability and green shipping brings to the fore the need of shipping to speak with one voice, though it would be a small voice, especially when it comes to green issues. Shipping has to find a way to fit into the logistics chain.
• The human element keeps the Greek shipping miracle alive. Strong investment in training is necessary to give young seafarers the best skills.
• The transformation of Piraeus into a logistics hub, in an environment of better infrastructure, better legislation and digitalization, can only benefit the shipping world, provide new business opportunities and create employment in a globalilsed and more competitive world.
• Special mention was made to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine and the seafarers, where 15% of the world crew is from Russia or Ukraine.
• This is a challenging period, demand is unpredictable, markets are not yet pricing in the new geopolitical reality and regulation is the main driver for change and pushes towards a stratification of vessels.

Overview

What a difference a year makes! Compared to our previous conference, most markets have taken off with unprecedented ferocity.

But is this going to be one more shipping boom and bust cycle or are we about to witness different dynamics? Can Euphoria be for Real this time? Could the environmental considerations and uncertainties prevailing be a blessing in disguise and keep the order book in check? How will the newly advocated requirements of the environmental regulations influence banks and private equity funds? And how about the cost of transporting even the most basic of commodities and goods?  How can we make trade sustainable and make it a win-win equation for producers, shippers and consumers?

At the end of the day, there is no doubt that all shipping industry stakeholders seek is sustainability in trade, in the environment, in society. But sustainability also means not trying to take advantage of shipping by imposing over regulation in a multitude of facets.

We invite you to become a part of the growing community of Slide2Open Shipping Finance participants and sponsors who jointly try and decipher many of these important themes.  With over 15,000 unique participants during the live which are still growing by those who watch the replay and an average of 1700 simultaneous participants in each of our sessions, we cannot but feel energized towards organizing next year’s conference. And we promise to once again think out of the box. After all, during these past years so much has been about re-inventing, even the best of practices, and the Slide2Open Shipping Finance Conference, now in its 5th year, will for sure not be an exception. Particularly, not against a global backdrop that is fast evolving in so many different ways:

• The Russian Invasion of Ukraine and the Realities and the Intricacies of this Unfolding Drama in humanitarian, geopolotical and economical level
• Global recovery at a peak particularly in countries with an advanced vaccination program,
• Possible tightening of looser monetary policies experienced during the pandemic from fear of possible inflation pressures, especially following the War in Ukraine
• Decentralized Finance (known as DeFi) – this newly evolving form of blockchain finance – that could potentially pose a serious challenge to brokerages, banks and central authorities and create new and much less regulated outlets for ship financing,
• Shifting trade patterns, with China fast becoming a high consumption economy and, as is commonly referred to, “Made in China” being replaced by “Made for China”.
• With Artificial Intelligence (AI) fast seeping into our society, should this not start being a major focus for the shipping industry, before other sectors of the economy absorb what is already a shortage of AI talent?  How can this talent start adding value to the shipping industry already?

These are some of the key issues that we brought to the fore through our well-tested and most successful phygital conference interaction.

Our previous conference’s theme was a call to Beat On and indeed we were right on target in calling the beat. Now the goal is to make this beat prolonged and euphoric.  We invite you therefore to join us in trying to spread this Euphoria and see what it will take to Make it for Real. 

Watch the Session you missed and Join our interactive Community and Stay Tuned as we keep the dialogue live and we start preparing for the Slide2Open Shipping Finance 2023!