Artificial intelligence is rapidly moving from experimentation to everyday operations across the maritime sector. From chartering and voyage planning to compliance, documentation and commercial management, shipping companies are increasingly integrating AI into critical workflows.
But according to a new report from Veson Nautical, the real issue facing the industry is no longer whether to adopt AI — it’s whether the foundations behind those systems are strong enough to support them.
The report, Maritime AI Foundation, outlines five key questions shipping executives should now be asking as AI deployment accelerates across the global maritime industry.
The first question is whether AI tools are truly built for maritime operations. While general AI systems are capable of generating text and identifying patterns, shipping remains a highly specialised environment driven by voyage economics, laytime calculations, demurrage exposure, contractual clauses and operational dependencies. Veson argues that AI models trained specifically around maritime workflows will ultimately deliver far more reliable results than generic systems simply adapted to shipping.
The second issue revolves around data quality.
According to the report, the real competitive advantage in maritime AI will not come from public large language models alone, but from the quality and structure of a company’s own operational data. If voyage information, port calls, contracts and commercial records are fragmented or poorly managed, AI outputs risk becoming inconsistent and unreliable.
The third challenge is integration.
Rather than operating as separate assistants or isolated tools, AI systems need to be fully embedded into operational and commercial workflows. Voyage assumptions, contractual conditions and cost calculations must move through systems automatically and in real time if AI is expected to support day-to-day decision-making instead of remaining a simple experimental layer.
The report also highlights the growing importance of having a single, reliable “system of record.”
Many shipping companies still rely on disconnected spreadsheets, overlapping software platforms and fragmented data environments. In those situations, multiple versions of the same operational reality can emerge across voyages, contracts and exposure management. Veson warns that AI built on inconsistent information may actually amplify confusion instead of improving efficiency.
The final point concerns scale.
AI systems improve as they are exposed to broader operational environments and larger datasets. According to the report, platforms connected to wider client communities and larger shipping networks may eventually gain a structural advantage over isolated in-house AI deployments.
These same concerns were heavily discussed during the AI, Digitalisation and the Dry Bulk Workforce session held at Geneva Dry last month, where industry executives debated the growing gap between AI’s technical capabilities and the sector’s organisational readiness.
Scott Bergeron of Oldendorff Carriers noted that many companies are still trying to understand how to implement AI before even considering governance frameworks.
“Most of us are probably still trying to figure out how we’re going to deploy AI and not yet worried about the governance of AI,” he told delegates during the conference.
The discussion quickly shifted toward regulation when moderator Cynthia Worley of Sedna reminded attendees that the EU AI Act will enter full enforcement later this year, carrying potential penalties of up to €35 million or 7% of annual global turnover for companies unable to demonstrate proper AI governance processes.
According to participants in the room, very few executives had even heard of the legislation before that week.
Bergeron also compared AI to radar technology, warning that even transformative tools are not foolproof.
“There have been plenty of radar-assisted collisions,” he said. “So it wasn’t the final solution.”
He raised another concern that resonated strongly across the audience: the long-term disappearance of human expertise.
“What happens 10 years from now when there are no more subject matter experts? Who’s going to be around to question the output of AI?” Bergeron asked.
Ingrid Kylstad of Klaveness Digital argued that AI may ultimately prove even more transformative than radar because of how little people fully understand its reasoning processes.
“I actually think AI is more transformational than the radar,” she said. “Even the creators of the language models don’t understand how they reason or arrive at conclusions.”
She also revealed that her company recently chose not to hire a business analyst because existing employees, supported by AI tools, were already capable of handling the workload.
Marfin Management CEO Alex Albertini urged companies not to view AI simply as a tool for reducing headcount.
“AI is not an opportunity to fire people. It’s an opportunity to grow with the same staff,” he said.
Albertini also introduced what he described as the “saboteur syndrome” — a growing risk where employees who fear losing their jobs become internal obstacles to AI implementation, sometimes actively resisting or undermining adoption efforts. For many companies, he argued, managing organisational change may now be just as important as the technology itself.
Alberto Perez of Lloyd’s Register added that simply having access to AI tools does not automatically create value.
“It’s not the same having a tool as extracting value from the tool,” he said, referencing findings from Lloyd’s Register’s Digital Maturity Index, which suggests many shipping companies continue to underestimate how advanced their competitors have become in AI adoption.
The debate around AI in shipping is expected to continue later this year during Splash Singapore, where industry leaders will gather at the Fairmont Hotel for the SplashTech Digital Leaders Forum and the AI, Digitalisation and the Maritime Workforce panel on September 24.
Organised by the teams behind Splash and Geneva Dry, the event aims to bring senior shipping executives together for open discussions around the future of maritime technology, digitalisation and workforce transformation.
