OPINION: In 2026, AI is setting course for maritime competitiveness

2025 was a year of meaningful transformation for the marine industry, driven by AI, data analytics and cloud collaboration. Industrial intelligence—using end-to-end data from across the maritime lifecycle that is paired with self-serve AI insights—is sparking digital innovation, reshaping ship design, operations, and sustainability. This momentum is setting the stage for 2026, as digital handover, automation, and AI-driven compliance move from vision to standard practice. We see four major trends:

Connected ecosystems unlock maritime economic synergies: The business case for retrofits or replacements improves dramatically when design, construction and operations share historical data. So far, these have been siloed, separate systems— creating inefficiencies, rework and waste. Despite delays the upcoming IMO Net-Zero Framework potentially leading to lost margins, connected ecosystems become essential to keeping maritime businesses on a steady keel. Companies that unify their data flows will retrofit faster and cheaper than competitors still using outdated digital systems, email chains and spreadsheets.

As AI moves from concept to co-pilot, it will drive the next era of maritime competitiveness. Companies now have enough data and use cases to drive a new generation of advanced AI technologies, including generative AI, agentic AI and real-time analytics—after years of small-scale testing. Expect to see AI agents become operational. These software systems can act autonomously or semi-autonomously to help with objectives such as optimising routes, avoiding collisions and scheduling port calls. We see task-specific AI agents as catalysts for smarter, safer and more sustainable operations, empowering shipyards and operators to automate compliance, optimise retrofits, and unlock true digital handover—or as executives at our Marine Executive Summit agreed, AI-driven insight and agentic action will define the next era of maritime competitiveness.

AI will help maritime operators work smarter and do more with less. The industry’s new competitive boost extends to labor shortages. The industry needs more than 89,000 additional officers next year, but the gap isn’t being filled, not least because of the impact of geopolitical events. But the sector won’t replace workers with AI. Rather, AI will serve as a force multiplier for overstretched crews and yard workers, giving them superhuman-like skills. This means AI will handle compliance documentation, automate retrofit planning and manage data handovers between design, build and operations. We see AI as an enabler that supports skilled professionals in meeting growing industry complexity while creating safer and more resilient operations.

As AI extends from insight to execution, it will redefine how ships are designed, built and sustained. Manual work has long resisted digitisation, especially in harsh industrial environments. The next generation of shipbuilding systems will embed design intent directly into work instructions, track progress in real time, and guide crews through completions and verifications using augmented reality. As industrial wearables mature, the need to pause, review documents or manually update work packages will disappear.

Autonomous and semi-autonomous systems are also moving deeper into the production process. By decomposing BOMs, BOPs and work packages into machine-readable commands, AI orchestration engines will coordinate robotics and equipment for optimal quality, resource use and throughput. What once required specialised assembly lines can now be applied to large, unique components, enabled by high-fidelity data capture that provides the forensics for continuous improvement.

As fleets grow and systems become more complex, managing change, sister ships, obsolescence, documentation, will only intensify. Asset lifecycle management is more than just foundation; it keeps the digital twin and all associated documentation continuously current across the vessel’s life, with invaluable insights throughout.

This ecosystem will demand deeper collaboration. Class societies, OEMs, fuel suppliers and manufacturing partners all bring critical innovation to the table. Connecting problems with experts through shared digital data has now moved from aspirational to essential.

As we design the next generation of zero-emission vessels, alignment with cargo, bunkering and even materials such as hull coatings will become part of an integrated, AI-enabled lifecycle.