The Korea Ship Management Industry Association (KOSMA) held the “Korea Ship Management Seminar” in Kure, Hiroshima on the 19th of April. Lee Changmin, president of KOSMA, said, “Korean seafarers are on board many ships owned by Japanese shipowners. This is a sign of the high level of communication between the two countries,”.
An external lecturer also explained the importance of digital transformation (DX) in decarbonizing ships.
The forum is the only ship management event in South Korea that KOSMA organizes together with the Busan Metropolitan City and the Busan Port Authority (BPA). In Korea, the ship management industry is being promoted by the public and private sectors following the enactment of the Ship Management Industry Promotion Act.
Specifically, he explained the safety management process, which plays a central role in the Korean ship management industry, digitalization, and the pressing issue of decarbonization in the industry.
Chairman Lee Changmin said, “There are 1,874 ocean-going vessels involving Korean ship management companies and seafarers. Of these, about 1,000 are owned by Korean shipowners and 868 by foreign shipowners,” he explained.
In terms of countries, Japan and Panama are the most common, and Korean ship management and Korean seafarers are involved in virtually all of the ships owned by Japanese shipowners.
KOSMA hopes to make the capabilities of the Korean ship management industry more widely known and to provide ship management services not only to Korean shipowners but also to ships owned by foreign shipowners.
Following Chairman Lee Changmin, Mr. Jeong Sang-gu, Director of the Marine Transport and Port Division of Busan Metropolitan City, gave a presentation on Busan’s plans to support the ship management industry.
Busan is the largest trading port in Korea and has a high concentration of steel and shipbuilding industries. He emphasized the advantages of forming a large economic zone with neighboring Ulsan and other cities.
Two speakers spoke at DX: Lee Sang-jo, Director of Business Development at POS S, on “Digital Strategies in the Korean Ship Management Industry” and Yu Yamada, Assistant Director at Lightship, on “What the New Greenhouse Gas ‘Assessment’ Means”.
With the International Maritime Organization (IMO) launching the CII (Fuel Efficiency Performance Rating System) this year and the EU-ETS (EU Emissions Trading Scheme) starting next year, the decarbonization of ships and DX cannot be separated.
The seminar was attended by Kure shipowners, Imabari shipowners, and others. Software companies, financial institutions, and others seeking to optimize voyage routes gathered.