Super-size cruiseships resembling state-of-the-art hotels, cyber-security, e-navigation and LNG fuelling. To any casual observer, those could easily appear to be the factors that dominate today’s shipping industry.

And they could be forgiven such thinking, given the blizzard of marketing and industry-wide discussion such subjects generate.

Even somewhat more knowledgeable market watchers could be forgiven for believing that the physical operation of ships today runs very smoothly, allowing full attention to be given to, perhaps, financial concerns, net asset values, counter-party quality and return on investment.