Maritime industry leaders meeting in Shanghai called for International Maritime Organization regulation to accelerate shipping’s energy transition, Hellenic Shipping News reported, citing the Global Maritime Forum. Discussions at the forum’s two-day Annual Summit 2026 focused on how a global framework could help broaden early decarbonisation efforts, with the IMO’s Net-Zero Framework approaching a pivotal point in December.
IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez told participants that international rules were important to encourage the investment needed to meet the organisation’s net-zero ambitions. He reaffirmed the sector’s 2050 decarbonisation goal, while stressing that governments also needed to invest in infrastructure and energy suppliers in new fuels. Greater diversification would strengthen resilience, he said.
The gathering brought together shipowners, charterers, financiers, policymakers and cargo owners to discuss priorities extending beyond emissions. Energy security, freedom of navigation, maritime governance, supply chain disruption and seafarer safety were also on the agenda. Global Maritime Forum chief executive Johannah Christensen highlighted the dilemma of maintaining trade in essential goods during periods of disruption without putting lives at risk.
The summit, the forum’s first in mainland China, also hosted the launch of a report examining China’s role in developing green shipping corridors. According to the account published by Hellenic Shipping News, the study identified Chinese strategic advantages in three of the four building blocks it considers necessary to establish such corridors, placing the country among the strongest participants globally.
Separately, the All Aboard Alliance appointed Swire Shipping chief executive Jeremy Sutton as co-chair alongside Meei Wong, chief executive of Circle Digital Ventures. The alliance’s effort to develop worldwide standards covering ten aspects of life at sea featured prominently in summit discussions. Participants regarded that work as important to shipping’s long-term future, particularly against the backdrop of concerns about seafarer safety in the Strait of Hormuz.
Shanghai Maritime University co-hosted the event, supported by Shanghai International Port Group, the People’s Government of Hongkou District and Baltic Exchange. The forum announced that its next annual summit would take place in Copenhagen on 28–29 September 2027, coinciding with the organisation’s tenth anniversary.