Steen Lund: linkedin.com/in/steen-lund-4b50061

Ryan: Hi Steen, today we aim to explore your exceptional knowledge within the maritime sector and converse about the most recent developments, technological advancements, and valuable insights that can be of value to both industry experts and those looking to enter the field.

Steen: Thank you for giving me this opportunity to engage with your readers.

Background and Journey

Ryan: Can you share a bit about your journey in the maritime industry, from your early experiences to your current role as CEO of RightShip? What inspired you to pursue a career in this field?

Steen: One just needs to look at the magnitude of the challenges the maritime industry addresses to be inspired. For starters, we move some 90% of all trade via the sea. That’s scale summarized in one sentence, which underscores the importance of this industry to society – as we often hear; no shipping, no shopping!

Vessels emit 3% of all global carbon emissions. That defines the mission, i.e. as we decarbonize the supply chain, we make a real difference to the planet. To top it off, you get exposed to the nicest people one could ever imagine – always someone to teach and share when you need a helping hand, always engaging story tellers, and always another gathering to be part of to connect across the industry to listen, learn, and grow.

Steen Lund, CEO RightShip - Oct 23rd 2023 (Photo: RightShip)

Ryan: RightShip's mission is to improve safety, environmental sustainability, and crew welfare across the maritime industry. Could you elaborate on how RightShip achieves these goals through its digital platform and services?

Steen: We bring ship owners, managers, charterers, ports and terminals and many other parties together in a quest through data driven insights to create a shared understanding of what good looks like. The north star of our mission is a maritime industry that causes zero harm. By giving all supply chain actors transparent access to the same facts, we create a joint mission to address the parts that need to be improved.

If a vessel has had a serious incident, a charterer will know how that stacks up against their risk appetite, a port will know whether the vessel constitutes a risk to its infrastructure and a vessel owner will know how to document the learning from that incident, while all other owners and managers may derive insights that allow them to benchmark against all relevant vessels and draw parallel learnings without having experienced the actual incident in their fleet.

Peer comparisons are a vital part of learning and this is facilitated across the insights the Platform provides – whether that is care for the crew, GHG emissions or safety events.

Teo Eng Dih (3rd from Left) and his capable team at MPA, together with Steen Lund (4th from Left) (Photo: Steen Lund)

Digitalization & Technology

Ryan: As someone deeply involved in the digitalization of the maritime industry, what are some of the most significant trends and changes you've observed from RightShip's perspective?

Steen: Data collaboration and AI are areas that rapidly move from topics of curiosity to real value creation. Pockets of the industry have graduated from data protectionism to genuine data sharing and have started to harvest benefits. Examples include the All Aboard Alliance that recently announced a commitment to deploy a minimum of 4 female seafarers on each of 11 pilot vessels, and together learn from the experience gained, with a clear desire to enable a far more diverse employment environment.

The decarbonization centres in Singapore and Copenhagen are great examples of wider interests joining forces to work on monumental challenges by pooling knowledge, data and funding.

On AI we’re at the proverbial starting line with limited impact as yet unleashed onto the industry and much to be had. Early successes have been proven around co-piloting AI driven knowledge with human to human engagement. In other words giving people access to knowledge otherwise not available to them, in a manner that enables them to lean on a competency repository that is far greater than what each of us can contain in our heads.

There’s a risk of companies being left behind if they don’t act on such technology advancements that have the potential of accelerating M&A into larger value pools.

Mr. Steen Lund, CEO RightShip, delivering keynote address, "Digitization and Decarbonization together to achieve sustainable shipping" at Xinde Marine Forum - Solutions for Shipping Decarbonization - Apr 28th 2023 (Photo: Xinde Marine News)

Ryan: Could you share insights into the role of digitalization and technology in enhancing the sustainability and resilience of maritime supply chains?

Emissions management is an obvious space in which digitalization is increasingly deployed. This spans all the way from GHG rating and capturing the full well-to-wake impact of a specific fuel, to the very significant opportunities that lie in investing in energy saving devices for existing vessels. A common denominator is driving asset investments as well as operational decisions through access to the appropriate data.

Knowing the potential of applying e.g. air lubrication, silicon hull coating or a new bulbous bow is all about following a digitally led engineering process. The right insights facilitate the optimal decision making for each vessel. The options available just on retrofitting energy saving devises are so vast that cross industry data sharing is essential.

Advisory & Commitment

Ryan: Your involvement with Motion Ventures, a venture capital fund focused on the maritime value chain, demonstrates your commitment to innovation. What excites you the most about digitally enabled solutions in the maritime sector?

Steen: Motion Ventures was created out of Rainmaking deciding to establish itself in the connected maritime hub that Singapore constitutes. I was invited in to bring the right decision makers together, and am pleased to see the impact the Motion Ventures funds have had in creating awareness and connecting startups to corporates, while in that journey creating value also for the fund investors.

It’s gratifying to see startups attain real value and become relevant and in some cases even indispensable to large enterprises. Innovation often resides really well in small entities, and can be unleashed when given a mandate across large companies that are better at deploying solutions than necessarily at creating them in-house.

Ryan: In your role as an advisor to various organizations, including Antler and Rainmaking, what valuable lessons have you learned from working with startups and entrepreneurs in the maritime and tech space?

Steen: Barter trade is at times an unfair deal. I have often walked away from mentoring sessions with startups feeling unduly enriched with technology insights I would have otherwise not had access to. Advising and mentoring are two-way streets, where frequently the advisor is advised and aggregates knowledge that is useful, especially when it comes to emergence of new technologies.

Some of the greatest learnings I have had are around the power of empathic listening, and being part of converting raw startup enthusiasm into practical value generation for the startup company and its initial customers.

Image (left to right): Steen Lund (CEO, RightShip), Michael Jørgensen (Head of Dry Bulk, Torvald Klaveness) Ajinkya Kadam (Partnerships Manager, RightShip), Philip Paulsen (Market Manager, Torvald Klaveness) and Tarun Mehrotra (Chief Strategy Officer, RightShip) announce the signing of Market Manager - Oslo, Feb 9th 2023 (Photo: Torvald Klaveness)

Ryan: With your extensive experience, what advice would you offer to seafarers who are considering a transition from a life at sea to a career onshore, especially those who are contemplating roles in the maritime industry's digitalization and technology sectors?

Steen: Seafarers who are ready to provide value to shore based industries are in demand. Seafarers can contribute well outside traditional ship management roles and may find inspiring opportunities with insurance underwriters, technology leaders, engine makers, financial lenders, ship brokers, classification societies and most certainly with RightShip.

We employ a large contingent of seafarers who have come ashore, and our vetting and inspection teams especially benefit greatly from the industry knowledge and seafaring experience available, through the many good women and men who now keep their colleagues safe through the work they passionately do in our organization.

Words of Wisdom

Ryan: Finally, could you provide some tips or words of wisdom for both current professionals and aspiring individuals looking to build successful careers in the maritime industry?

Steen: Jump right in. The challenges one can get to work on are global, significant, of great purpose, and always connected to the most delightful and competent people one could ever wish to work together with.

The maritime industry has a rich heritage to learn from and a bright future. The relative uptake of technology compared with other industries is low, and hence the upside as we mobilize is rather awe inspiring.