Weak Signals

tracking. and amplifying. for the record.

Electrifying Global Maritime Trade

BLUF: A recent study suggests that over 40% of global container ship traffic could be electrified cost-effectively with current technology.

Representing a positive shift towards the potential for a less environmentally harmful maritime trade, an electrified container ship could have as little as a 1/12th of the impact of current models.

Question: What geopolitical impact would the mass adoption of electrified maritime trade be? If powered by lithium-ion batteries, could this be the spark that brings more great power competition over natural mineral resources?

Read more here

Cyber Insurance Price Hikes

BLUF: As the cost for cyber insurance rapidly increases, local governments are struggling to maintain adequate coverage.

As cyber attacks continue to increase in frequency, companies offering cyber insurance are requiring more comprehensive measures in place to ensure coverage. While this may appear common sense at surface level, many of the requisite measures are cost prohibitive to vulnerable and heavily targeted parts of society.

Question: What measures can be installed to ensure a balance is struck between cyber insurance companies protecting their bottom line and attainable, cost-effective measures that don’t leave the most vulnerable high and dry?

For more see this article.

Improving Arctic Maritime Safety

BLUF: The Norwegian Coastal Administration has created ArcticInfo, an open-source, free to use program designed to monitor ice concentrations and meteorological factors off the coasts of Norway, Iceland, Russia, Canada, and Greenland, plus the Barents and North Seas.

Arctic maritime activity has the potential to rival traditional trade lanes. Since 2013, Arctic shipping has steadily risen. But despite its promise, adverse weather patterns, governance conflicts and geopolitical power projection represent major obstacles to its emergence as a rival to existing major trade routes.

Question: Will the profits resist the steadily intensifying geopolitical environment in the high north?

For more on shipping in the Arctic, see https://www.barentswatch.no/arcticinfo/