McKinsey report predicts autonomous 50k-TEU ships by 2067

Self-steering mega container vessels, overcapacity and industry consolidation could lead to further reduction in the number of shipping lines, as well as the extinction of the standalone freight forwarder, according to a new report from McKinsey & Co.    The container shipping industry could reinvent itself over the next 50 years to the point that autonomous 50,000 TEU vessels are sailing the seas and only three or four major container shipping companies still exist, according to a prestigious global management consulting firm.
   In a “travel, transport and logistics” report released earlier this month, business management consultant McKinsey & Co. said that the industry is being roiled by digital technologies, big data and the Internet of Things, and five predictions were made regarding how the state of the shipping industry could look by 2067.
   In addition to self-steering mega container vessels and overcapacity and industry consolidation leading to a reduction in the number of shipping lines, predictions include an increase in short haul intraregional traffic; a fully autonomous transport chain; and more demand by customers for transparency and reliability.
   “Autonomous 50,000-TEU2ships will plow the seas—perhaps alongside modular, dronelike floating containers—and the volume of container trade will be two to five times what it is today,” the report states in part.
   “Short-haul intraregional traffic will increase as converging global incomes, automation, and robotics disperse manufacturing footprints,” the report continues. “Container flows within the Far East will remain huge, and the second-most significant trade lane may link the region to Africa, with a stopover in South Asia.”
   Additionally, freight forwarding, McKinsey & Co. is predicting, could become “virtually extinct” as a stand-alone business, since digital interactions will lessen the need for intermediaries.
   To realize the 50-year projections, shipping companies should invest in digital technologies, but that comes with the risk that tech companies and others could move faster to capture their business by moving faster.
   Secondly, the report states, the integration of next generation innovations.
   “Integrated logistics providers could make freight forwarders irrelevant by mastering the complexity and the customer interface,” according to the report.
Third, the report states, be bold.
   “The shipping industry was built on the vision of strong leaders who dared to sail through the storms,” one passage in the report reads. “Although it now once again faces a period of disruption—this time from digital technologies—there is a path forward for companies willing and able to seize the day.”
   The full 36-page report can be downloaded directly from McKinsey’s website.