Aftermath of COVID-19 in container shipping (environmental sustainability)

• Main Author: Ong, Shi Hui
• Other Authors: Lum Kit Meng
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2023
• Subjects: Engineering::Maritime studies
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/172755
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Increasing sustainability and climate change concerns around the world have shifted consumers’ preferences as well as the progression of the global economy. In addition to maximising profits and minimizing loss, more companies are looking to contribute to the economy sustainably in terms of environmental sustainability, social sustainability, and economic sustainability. This paper will compare how the industry has changed from pre-pandemic and during the pandemic to the aftermath of the COVID-19 virus outbreak. On top of the effects on the container industry, this research paper will analyse the rationale for how the stakeholders react to the unprecedented changes. To analyse the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic in the container industry, primary and secondary research methods were utilised for the study of this research paper. The primary research involves data collection via a perception survey questionnaire and interviews with industry experts. The data collection consists of both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Secondary research involves the analysis of information that can be found on the internet such as research papers, academic research, and news articles. This information will further credit the findings obtained from the aforementioned primary research. The COVID-19 virus outbreak has highlighted underlying issues the industry has been facing since pre-pandemic and these issues are being addressed as the economy recovers from the disease. To summarise, environmental sustainability requires hefty funds and coordination with the key market players in container shipping. As shipping lines minimise their carbon emissions in the short run, consistent innovation is required to achieve carbon-neutral business operations and zero-carbon shipping to successfully achieve environmental sustainability. As the container industry transitions into its ship scrapping phase with rising political uncertainty in the economy, shipping lines must manoeuvre through these challenges while prioritising their environmental efforts. This report aims to study the aftermath of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-10) pandemic in Container Shipping. The research is categorised based on the 3 pillars of sustainability – Social, Environmental and Economic. This paper focuses on the aftermath effects concerning environmental sustainability.