Shipping has spent years adding connectivity, systems and data in the hope that work at sea would become easier.

One technology executive’s experience suggests the opposite can happen when technology is added without removing the work around it. That tension runs deeper than digitalisation.

The industry is trying to change how ships operate while asking the same people to absorb more systems, fuels, regulation and reporting. Better technology matters, but so does knowing what should disappear when it arrives.

Peter Jackson puts a much harder question in front of an industry that has spent years talking about digital transformation: what if the technology works, but the operation gets harder?

That is a useful place to start because Jackson has seen the transition from almost no communication with shore to vessels carrying what he describes as a “huge stack of applications”, with data flowing continuously and crews able to stay connected from sea. Yet the administrative burden has grown with it. “Unless you're extremely careful it doesn't improve efficiency on board. In some cases it does the reverse. It just increases workload.”

For the maritime industry, that is more than a complaint about email. It is a warning about how technology gets adopted. Every new platform, reporting requirement or AI tool eventually reaches a crew already responsible for running the vessel safely. If the new system creates another task rather than removing one, the technology has added cost without necessarily improving the operation.

Jackson takes the same view of AI. He argues that companies need the data, governance, cybersecurity, infrastructure and organisational alignment before they chase the promised benefit. His emphasis on testing a specific business case before committing major spending is particularly relevant as shipping moves from AI experiments towards wider deployment.

That is why his appearance at the Digital Ship Summit in Athens on 15 October matters. Jackson will be speaking about AI from the perspective of someone responsible for technology.

His message is useful for the wider industry: innovation should make the job of running a ship more manageable, not give the people running it another layer to manage.

Every 24 hours, or every five seconds?

"The higher frequency, the sooner you get to a trend or decision point. If you get something once every 24 hours versus every five seconds - that's a big difference." — Lars Pedersen, CTO, Frontline.

Decision cadence is becoming a competitive variable in shipping. The Great Integration Report explores why faster data alone isn't the answer and what shipping companies need to do to turn frequency into confidence.

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