Shipping Stakeholders Risk Management Perspective Based on Drivers, Barriers, Enablers and Collaborative Partnerships During the Transition to Sustainable Fuel

Abstract

The transition to sustainable fuels in shipping is necessary to satisfy the requirements set by the International Maritime Organisation and the European Union. The shipping industry's emission rate is increasing and has the potential to decrease through greener fuels. The transition poses several risks for shipping stakeholders. However, this master thesis limits its focus to fuel producers, shipping companies and ports. This paper analyses how drivers, barriers, enablers and collaborative partnerships support the three stakeholders' ability to identifyand mitigate their respective risks considering the transition. A qualitative study based on expert interviews was conducted to address the topic and answer the research question adequately. The research is based on nine expert interviews, five in-depth presentations during our attendance at Nor-Shipping 2023 and literature. The results revealed the main drivers to be regulations and policies, economic and financial drivers and sustainability. The main barriers are fuel feasibility barriers and prices- and costs of greener fuels. The main enablers are fuel feasibility enablers and economic and financial subsidies to satisfy the stakeholder's long-term investments due to the industry's capital intensity. The results also reveal the importance of collaborative partnerships to make progress and strive to find solutions that collectively benefit all stakeholders. Lastly, the results revealed identified risks for the three stakeholders and the respective risk mitigation strategies using the COSO ERM framework. In all essence, the results revealed that risk management, by addressing drivers and barriers, facilitating enablers and encouraging collaborative partnerships, decreases the risks that face the three stakeholders in the transition to greener fuels.