StormGeo: Inevitable future of bunkering, despite human resistance, lies with digitalisation

The shipping industry is at a crucial inflection point with all significant regulations, including Fuel EU, EU ETS, and the proposed IMO NZF, intrinsically linked to marine fuel, noted the Global Head of Bunker Sales at StormGeo.

Julie Nielsen argued relying on manual Excel sheets for bunkering operations is no longer adequate for maintaining the necessary control in this evolving landscape. As such, digital solutions are vital for dismantling internal company silos, thereby enabling more effective data-driven decisions.

Nielsen was participating in the AI and the Future of Digitalisation: Transforming the Bunker Value Chain panel discussion at IBIA Annual Convention 2025 in Hong Kong on Wednesday (19 November) when she noted a primary impediment to widespread adoption of digital solutions to be human resistance.

“This is often rooted in a ‘psychological barrier’ where individuals perceive data sharing as a risk,” she explained.

“This resistance frequently stems from users’ insecurity that data might expose past inefficiencies in their job performance.

“Despite C-level executives increasingly recognising bunkers as a boardroom topic, driven by Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting and banking requirements, user-level adoption remains a challenge.”

Nielsen stressed AI-driven transparency is paramount for the shipping and bunkering industry, necessitating openness with data from both marine fuel buyers and suppliers.

She also highlighted the pivotal role of verifiers in driving behaviour by ensuring data correctness and identifying inconsistencies.

While acknowledging the inherent complexity of the bunkering supply chain, Julie firmly stated there is no viable alternative to digitalisation for maintaining competitiveness.

She further challenged the notion that digitalisation diminishes the “human touch”, contending that digital systems can offer more valuable data than traditional communication methods like WhatsApp.

“A funny argument we also hear out there is, ‘oh we don’t want to go digital because it takes away the human touch’. How much human touch do you actually have on WhatsApp?” She questioned.

“You send a text message [on WhatsApp] and you get a reply.

“What difference does it make when you do it in a system which can actually help create all the data and give you the valued data proposition for future decisions.”

Photo credit: Manifold Times
Published: 24 November, 2025