Find pilots and dive in to software melee

Speaking at TOC Europe, Mr Jensen advised ports and terminals not to be put off by the hype, urging them to find appropriate pilots and to get onboard as soon as possible.

He said that while ports need to separate the hype from reality on software, there are a number of interesting and viable options out there that could improve operations and productivity.

“Over the past 12 months, not a week has gone by when we haven’t heard about a new digital pilot going on in the container shipping space,” said Mr Jensen. “Yes, we are in a hype cycle, but this doesn’t mean that you should shy away from doing anything this year, quite the contrary in fact.

“No matter where you are in the maritime supply chain, sit down and say is there something out there that you can jump on and be part of in a pilot.”

Describing the shift taking place in the industry at the moment as “transformation, not disruption”, he advised ports to ask where the value is for their customers to ascertain which solution might be the right fit for them.

“There’s a lot of good viable options out there, but we do not know who will prevail,” he said.