Ask a member of the general public about shipping and its importance in people’s everyday life, and you will probably meet a wall of silence.
Unfortunately, all too often shipping is connected with polluted sea birds and beaches; a secret, seclusive society with a submarine profile towards the outside world. Indeed, the myths about shipping are many and the reason for this is simply that shipping has become an increasingly invisible industry in most countries.
In our forum for discussing important issues facing the maritime industry, senior vice president and head of DNV class policy, Terje Staalstrøm, shares his views on the ‘image’ of the shipping industry. As he relates in his article starting on page 12, he firmly believes that it will take a collective effort by all the players in the industry to promote an image of responsible shipping in a global society. “I think at present the public’s ‘image’ of the industry is not so much bad as non-existent. We need to mount a sustained programme – addressing the total value chain of international commerce so that the public, the media and the politicians are aware of the positive, not just the negative, aspects of the shipping industry.”
Indeed, if the industry really wants a say in its own future, shipping must become a visible industry again. Shipping-related companies and organisations should shoulder the task of creating a higher profile and an ‘open door’ information policy. They do, in fact, have a good story to tell.