Future Maritime Leaders Challenged to Share their 2050 Vision

The maritime sector can expect to meet many challenges and opportunities on its route to 2050. Decarbonization, equitable growth, inclusion and diversity, seafarer well-being, shifting demographics, digitalization, increased transparency, and the need for resilience – surmounting these challenges may require fundamental shifts in the way the sector operates. To help guide this transformation, the sector will benefit if its sets itself an ambitious vision of its future.

The Global Maritime Forum calls on students and young professionals, within the maritime sector and beyond, to share their vision on what the maritime industry should look like in 2050, and how this can be achieved. A selection committee comprised of senior maritime stakeholders, and a former essay competition winner, will select three winning essays. The authors will be awarded the opportunity to participate in the Global Maritime Forum’s Annual Summit 2021 in London.

“Listening to voices from outside conventional industry circles can help maritime decision makers understand and find ways to act on society’s expectations. Who better to hear from than talented and ambitious aspiring leaders of the future on their vision of what the maritime industry should and can become in 2050?” says Christine Loh, Chief Development Strategist, Institute for the Environment, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong. Christine Loh chairs the Selection Committee that will decide on the winners of the competition.

At the Global Maritime Forum’s Annual Summit in October, the competition winners will represent the voice of the next generation and take up active roles as full participants alongside 200 public and private sector leaders. The winners will receive full sponsoring for the duration of the event, as well as have their contribution published on the Global Maritime Forum’s website.

“It’s exciting to have an opportunity for young talents and senior leaders to interact and learn from each other. Platforms which allow the next generation of maritime leaders to add their voices to the discussions on the vision of future are an excellent way of seizing this opportunity,” adds Camille Simbulan, Head of Communication and Special Projects, Associated Marine Officers and Seamen’s Union of the Philippines, and one of the winners of the Future Maritime Leaders essay competition in 2020.

At the Annual Summit in London, which will take place on 27-28 October 2021, the three competition winners will be joined by last year’s winners. Camille Simbulan (the Philippines), Nikol Hearn (South Africa), and Jonathan Brown (UK), won the competition in 2020 with essays on how the maritime industry can improve the wellbeing of seafarers, finance its decarbonization, and establish effective practices for ship recycling.

Essay competition topic

What is your vision for the maritime sector in 2050 and what are concrete actions that we need to take within the next five years to make this a reality?

Essay competition criteria

The competition is open to students and young professionals aged 18-30
Essay submissions in “op-ed” form and PDF format should not comprise more than 1000 words
Participants in the competition should also attach their CV and a submission form
The submissions deadline is 31 May 2021.
Competition winners will be announced early September.

Selection Committee

The winners of the competition will be selected by a committee comprising the following members:

Christine Loh, Chief Development Strategist, Institute for the Environment, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong (Head of Committee)
Camille Simbulan, Head of Communication and Special Projects, Associated Marine Officers and Seamen’s Union of the Philippines (AMOSUP), Philippines; winner of the 2020 Future Maritime Leaders essay competition
Matt Dunlop, Group Director HSSEQ & Technical, V.Group, UK
Oivind Lorentzen III, Director, SEACOR Holdings, USA
Stephen Cotton, General Secretary, International Transport Workers’ Federation, UK