SIBCON 2026: Digitalisation must address growing complexity in marine fuel supply chain, says Maersk
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The shipping industry is moving from a history of limited fuel bases to a future involving up to ten different marine fuel types and dual-fuel vessels, observed Christian Plum, Ph.D., Head of Fuel Supply Planning, A.P. Møller – Maersk.
Plum was speaking at the panel discussion Maritime Digitalisation: Unlocking Value Across Fuel Supply Chains at the 24th Singapore International Bunkering Conference and Exhibition (SIBCON 2026) on Wednesday (14 October) when he argued digitalisation should not be pursued for its own sake, such as through centralisation, but rather to identify areas with direct, tangible value.
He suggested a “digital first” approach is best applied to emerging areas, such as new regulations and alternative marine fuel types, allowing companies to build robust practices from the ground up.
The growing complexity of fleet regulations means bunker fuel procurement decisions can no longer be isolated.
Plum noted companies now require systems that provide an overview of consequences, such as how fuelling one vessel impacts fleet-wide compliance or CII ratings.
He emphasised the industry must accept these “network effects” to make optimal decisions for their assets.
Regarding the role of Artificial Intelligence, Plum identified a critical use case in managing unstructured data.
With information arriving via emails, WhatsApp, AIS, and flow readings, AI can help align these disparate sources to identify discrepancies.
He stressed AI’s current value lies in augmenting human labour by cross-checking data and flagging conflicts, rather than replacing human decision-making.
For ports looking to emulate Singapore’s success with mass flow meters, Plum offered a word of caution.
He advised adopting such technology requires a complete, end-to-end approach. Fragmented solutions that only address parts of the value chain will fail to deliver the full benefits of digitalisation.
Photo credit: Manifold Times
Published: 21 October 2026
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