April 8, 2025

Maritime Supply Chain Risk Awareness

Expert tips on Maritime Supply Chain Risk Awareness

Improve Data Quality and Integration

Connect all supply chain actors through a unified network platform to address safety challenges effectively and enable real-time collaboration.

Address Container Loss Risks

Containers stowed on deck — especially those carrying hazardous materials — pose major risks that remain insufficiently managed. Prioritise visibility and safeguards.

Ensure Timely Information Flow

The MV SoLong case showed how delays in sharing incident details can escalate risk. Fast, transparent data exchange is critical in emergency response.

Today I share my presentation that I gave in Wageningen for the Marin Top Tier project as an independent Expert Global Maritime Transport.

My key objectives were data quality and integration into a wider network platform connecting all supply chain actors to better address safety and environmental management challenges, such as container losses overboard.
Too many critical risks remain insufficiently addressed, especially those involving containers stowed on deck, which often carry the most hazardous and polluting cargoes.
One recent incident highlights our ongoing vulnerabilities: the case of MV SoLong, which reportedly lost 15 containers. For three days, it was feared these included 300 tonnes of sodium cyanide. Thankfully, this turned out not to be the case, but the delay in clarifying such vital information is deeply concerning.

It’s striking and troubling that in 2025, the flow of information and data remains painfully slow. This continues to result in inadequate emergency response, high supply chain risk, and fragmented data sharing. We must face a hard truth: we are still not able to bring and organise parties together to perform truly integrated and collaborative operations.
And yet this is not a technological limitation. The solutions are there. The question is: why are we not using them?
If cargo is king, how do cargo owners feel about these realities? What role can they play in resolving them, especially in light of their brand image and ESG commitments?
Let me know your thoughts.

Link to presentation: Supply Chain Risk Awareness Marin Top Tier Project
 

Presentation Supply Chain Risk Awareness Marin Top Tier Project