We asked Robert Ashdown about the key topics at Posidonia 2026.
What conversations do you expect to dominate Posidonia 2026 this year?
The ongoing situation in the Middle Eastern Gulf will of course be a significant talking point both in itself and in the wider ramifications related to security of supply chains, bunkering supplies, seafarer rights and the principles of freedom of navigation. Decarbonisation will also feature heavily while digitalisation and the increased awareness around the potential impact of AI will also feature.
Compared with previous Posidonia editions, what feels fundamentally different about the mood of the industry in 2026?
I detect a higher degree of uncertainty than in previous years. A complicated geo-political picture combined with an increasingly fractious debate over the IMO’s Net Zero Framework together with the doubts that accompany new fuel options and other technical developments makes this a difficult time to be taking long-term investment decisions.
İlginizi çekebilir:
Posidonia 2026 is opening its doors
The industry continues debating fuel pathways — LNG, methanol, ammonia, hydrogen, nuclear-assisted propulsion. Which pathways appear most realistic from a classification and safety standpoint?
Each of these pathways is technically realistic and can have an appropriate safety regime put in place. The key challenges are commercial and are heavily linked to the availabilty and distrubution of future fuels. As such, IACS continues to take an agnostic approach and to work on all options that can assist the global fleet reduce its carbon footprint, both for newbuilds and the existing fleet.
Posidonia 2026 is expected to showcase major advances in maritime AI. Where do you currently see AI delivering the most immediate value in shipping?
As in most industries, AI will have a key role to play across the maritime sector but the most immediate value will be extracted by ensuring that AI is approrpiately focused in areas where it can demonstrably improve efficiencies and decision making and is not seen as a silver bullet that can be applied across an organisation. Tailoring AI solutions to specific business needs is crucial.
Can AI realistically improve maritime safety, or does it mainly improve efficiency?
AI has a key role to play in improving maritime safety by taking operational data from a vessel and subjecting that to deep analysis. There are significant opportunities for AI to help the industry transition to conditition based monitoring and predictive maintenance while, from a regulatory perspective, AI interpreted data could move the industry from being regulated on the basis of accidents to a pro-active regulatory regime where data becomes a surrogate for experience and allows regulations to be adjusted before accidents happen.
What will define shipping in 2026: decarbonisation, AI, or geopolitics?
With only 6 months left in 2026 and the various flashpoints around the world showing little sign of abating, it is difficult to see anything but geopolitics dominating the agenda for the rest of the year.
