What SMM 2026 Signals for Shipping, the Rise of the Meat Proxy, and the Return of the Spreadsheet

Nick returns from SMM Hamburg with a read on where maritime innovation is actually moving: wind propulsion, nuclear, AI, class and new technology hubs. Raal then digs into digital judgement, conflicting data sources and the return of spreadsheets thanks to AI, before the episode ends with a reminder of shipping’s extraordinary role in everyday abundance.

CHAPTERS

• 01:07 How SMM is changing
• 03:21 The Thetius Top 150
• 07:52 Wind propulsion goes mainstream
• 12:39 Maritime AI before the AI boom
• 16:27 Meet the “meat proxy”
• 17:39 Class as an innovation enabler
• 28:25 What people at SMM really think comes next
• 32:03 Shipping’s messy, contextual data problem
• 35:12 Who owns the authoritative version of reality?
• 37:03 Moving decisions closer to the frontline
• 41:32 Critical thinking becomes digital judgement
• 43:16 Are spreadsheets making a comeback?
• 47:22 Ordinary abundance
• 50:13 Pineapples, spices and what shipping lets us take for granted

Nick is back from SMM Hamburg, where the exhibition increasingly looks less like a showcase for engines and heavy equipment alone and more like a cross-section of shipping’s technological transition. Using the newly launched Thetius Top 150 as a lens, he picks out several signals from the week: nuclear propulsion moving towards a credible adoption pathway, wind-assisted propulsion shifting decisively from demonstration to commercial scale, and classification societies becoming important enablers rather than inadvertent bottlenecks for new technology.

Although maritime has been applying machine learning, computer vision and predictive systems for years, much of the industry remains cautious about the current generative AI boom. Nick’s conversations at SMM underline the contradiction nicely: almost everyone thinks AI matters, but nobody wants to be the person predicting AI.

That leads into a broader discussion about shipping’s increasingly connected data environment. As vessel, port, customs and operational systems exchange more information, the challenge is no longer simply collecting data. It is deciding which source deserves authority when those systems disagree.

This has one unexpected consequence of generative AI: the possible return of the spreadsheet. Tools that once required specialist software or analyst support can increasingly be built and interrogated quickly, although data governance and validation remain significant constraints.

The episode closes with a reminder of the once-extraordinary luxuries that shipping now enables us to take for granted as everyday essentials.

EPISODE PARTNER

This episode of UnDocked is brought to you by GTT Marine.

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