From natural disasters to reputation scandals, critical events can impact even the steadiest organizations. While many companies have critical event management procedures, most have not aligned these with the business’s strategic goals. They may not grasp the big picture or estimate the scale of the task at hand. Furthermore, many of these companies lack the needed resources to deal with different sorts of crises and might use techniques that are dated.

The maritime and shipping sector is considered the backbone of the global economy. The primary transport mode for international trade is seashore shipping, which equals 90% of the cross-border world trade of goods on the planet. Shipping and maritime operations are often considered critical infrastructure industries since any defect in their components can significantly impact the economy and hinder transport operations.

The shipping and maritime sectors face a unique set of risks with potentially serious consequences. Safety officers and shipping operators must be prepared to manage unforeseen events, including lockdowns, hostile attacks, natural disasters, crashes, and power outages, to name a few.

COVID-19 impact on maritime and shipping industries

COVID-19 has imposed significant difficulties and exposed existing weaknesses in the maritime and shipping industries. During the pandemic, the international maritime and shipping industry has encountered several critical issues, including port closures, quarantine of the crew members, crew members changes,  delays, etc.  At the beginning of the outbreak, many shipping operators decided to take different measures to mitigate the business impact. Some chose to reduce their shipping capacity, while others decided to re-route their destinations. This created further challenges in delays, which naturally impacts the supply chain and their general operations and reputation.

On many occasions, a weakness in crisis preparedness has been identified as critical. Effective, resilient communication has been recalled as one of the key areas in which companies need to facilitate effective business continuity.

The pandemic has also affected maritime operators. Since the beginning of the outbreak, the virus has spread among many crew members and passengers, trapping them in the middle of the sea. These cases have been linked to the lack of situational awareness and real-time communication among the organization and key stakeholders. Many operators didn’t correctly estimate the urgent need for effective crisis management to manage and mobilize the crisis before it hits internally. 

Ship Grounding

Ship grounding accidents present significant failures putting maritime transportation operators in danger. The risks associated with such a situation can be catastrophic to the society, environment, and maritime operators. Severe grounding applies extreme damages to the hull; however, in most serious accidents, it might lead to hull breaches, cargo spills, total loss of the vessel, and, in the worst cases, human fatalities. Ensuring situational awareness among the crew members will reduce the damages. Crew members should be aware of the actions that must be followed in critical events!

Be Prepared for the Worst-Case Scenarios!

How can your organization prepare to respond quickly, effectively, and confidently during a critical event? 

RAYVN is a cloud-based platform that facilitates and automates real-time management for critical events. 

In similar cases, critical event management platforms can be considered a game-changer. They can facilitate communication and information sharing internally throughout your organization. Furthermore, the new collaboration technology from RAYVN allows you to interact with your external stakeholders like the coast guard, insurance company and port authorities, bringing them into your communication loop and keeping them informed as to your present situational requirements. RAYVN can mobilize, organize, and coordinate salvage proceedings, port assistance, towing procedures, and other types of critical situations.