Experts highlight the need for a systems approach to safe maritime decarbonisation

The workshop forms part of a wider programme of international engagement designed to inform the development of a Safer Maritime Decarbonisation Roadmap. Through a series of regional workshops and collaborative research activities, the ISMDN project is identifying priorities for future research and building connections between researchers, industry, regulators and policymakers. 

Participants examined challenges across four key areas: infrastructure and logistics; ship design, operations and systems; leakage, dispersion, explosion and fire; and human factors and training. While each area raised its own technical questions, participants repeatedly returned to one central theme: the challenges of maritime decarbonisation are deeply interconnected. The safe adoption of alternative fuels will depend on understanding how infrastructure, vessel and system design, technical risk, regulation and human factors interact, rather than addressing each area in isolation. 

A clear message from the workshop was that safe maritime decarbonisation depends on far more than technological readiness. Participants highlighted regulation, insurance, investment, infrastructure, operational responsibilities and workforce capability as critical elements of the enabling environment needed to support a safe transition. Even as technologies advance rapidly, uncertainty in these areas risks slowing adoption and limiting investment. 

The discussions also highlighted the importance of human factors. Participants stressed that seafarers, port workers and operators are increasingly being asked to manage new fuels and complex systems that are evolving faster than training and competency frameworks. Rather than treating human factors as a later consideration, attendees argued that they should be embedded from the earliest stages of vessel and system design.

Another recurring theme was the need for better knowledge sharing across the maritime sector. Participants noted that valuable lessons from system failures, near misses and operational experience are often retained within individual organisations, limiting opportunities for wider learning. Greater collaboration and more structured approaches to sharing safety knowledge were identified as important enablers of a safe transition. 

The workshop also highlighted the global nature of the challenge. Participants emphasised that safe decarbonisation will require approaches that work not only in major shipping centres, but also in regions with different levels of technical capacity, infrastructure and regulatory support. Making sure that knowledge, tools, training and safety guidance are accessible worldwide will be critical if the transition is to be both safe and equitable, helping to avoid the creation of new safety gaps between regions. 

Insights from the workshop are now contributing to the development of the ISMDN roadmap and helping shape future project activities. As the network continues to engage experts from around the world, it aims to strengthen the evidence base for safer maritime decarbonisation and identify collaborative research priorities that can support the sector's transition in the years ahead. 

Across the workshop discussions, participants stressed that safe maritime decarbonisation is ultimately a systems challenge, requiring coordinated progress across technology, people, infrastructure, policy and finance.