Speakers
Environmental Ethics and Sustainability at Sea
This paper presents the ethical challenges confronting shipping firms amid maritime decarbonisation efforts. As innovations in areas like ship engine technology become critical for business, a persistent and often unresolved tension emerges in balancing the uncertainty, pursuit of profit, and the non-negotiable imperatives of safety and sustainability. The paper examines human factors alongside rapid technological change, commercial pressure, and environmental considerations, questioning whether the current pace of innovation is surpassing safety protocols and unintentionally creating systemic vulnerabilities. Using James Reason's Swiss Cheese Model as an analytical framework, it demonstrates how weaknesses embedded within corporate strategy, emerging technologies, and regulatory oversight can align, triggering ethical shortcomings that jeopardise seafarer welfare and environmental integrity. It is argued that genuine sustainability is fundamentally an ethical commitment to a holistic safety culture. This calls for continuous and honest ethical responsibility, fostering a safety culture that supports – rather than overwhelms the human operator and the environment.