An Op-Ed Featuring Elijah Mbaru, FICS
CEO, Kenya Ships Agents Association | Chairman, Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers — East Africa Branch
The Industry at a Crossroads
The global maritime industry stands at its most consequential juncture in a generation. The vessels that carry over eighty per cent of world trade are today navigating not only oceans but a labyrinth of geopolitical conflict, environmental obligation, financial strain, and human tragedy.
For Elijah Mbaru, CEO of the Kenya Ships Agents Association and Chairman of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (East Africa Branch), the moment demands more than reflection.
“The maritime industry has endured severe difficulties up to now — geopolitical conflicts disrupting major trade routes, massive hurdles in funding and adopting green decarbonization, and record highs in seafarer abandonment,” Mbaru says. “But the real question is not whether we have problems. It is whether we have the courage to move from policy to practice.”
That phrase — from policy to practice — is the theme Mbaru has championed across the region, and it frames the challenge facing shipping today.
The Geopolitical Squeeze on Global Trade
The post-pandemic recovery was supposed to herald a return to stability. Instead, it delivered volatility. Wars and regional conflicts — most notably the war in Ukraine and persistent instability across Middle Eastern shipping lanes — have forced vessels onto longer, costlier, and more dangerous routes.
Mbaru is blunt about the consequences.
“Wars and regional conflicts force vessels to take longer, more expensive paths,” he notes. “Armed conflicts infringe on safe navigation and damage global supplies of food, fuel, and fertilizer. These are not distant problems — they reach our ports, our economies, and our people.”
The Red Sea disruptions alone have added thousands of nautical miles to voyages once considered routine, driving up fuel costs, insurance premiums, and delivery timelines. For East Africa — a region whose landlocked economies depend on efficient port access — the ripple effects are profound.
The Decarbonization Dilemma
No conversation about the future of shipping can avoid the environmental imperative. The IMO’s net-zero-by-2050 ambition is admirable. The pathway to achieving it, however, remains perilously unclear.
Mbaru is candid about the gap between ambition and reality.
“Only a small percentage of the global fleet’s tonnage is currently equipped to run on clean alternative fuels,” he observes. “Shipyards face steep investments to meet green recycling rules, and greenhouse gas emissions from shipping have continued to climb. Net-zero by 2050 is getting harder to put into practice.”
He argues that the green transition must be financed fairly.
“Developing maritime nations cannot be expected to bear the same burden as the world’s largest economies. A just transition — with capacity building, technology transfer, and accessible green finance — is not a favour to the Global South. It is a precondition for global success.”
The Human Cost We Cannot Ignore
Behind every statistic in this industry is a seafarer. And by every measure, our seafarers are in crisis. Record numbers of crew members are being abandoned by shipowners — stranded without pay, food, or tickets home.
Mbaru does not shy away from the gravity of this failure.
“Cases where ship owners strand crews without pay, food, or plane tickets home have hit record highs,” he says. “Seafarers face intense loneliness, dangerous weather, and direct threats when sailing through active war zones. And too often, restrictive national rules deny them safe port access during medical or migrant rescue emergencies.”
For Mbaru, this is not a peripheral concern — it is a moral test.
“We cannot claim to power maritime excellence while treating the people who power our ships as expendable. The frameworks exist. What is missing is enforcement, political will, and a genuine culture of care.”
The Enforcement Gap
Finally, the industry must confront an uncomfortable truth: many of our most important global rules simply do not reach the places where they matter most.
“The average age of ships on the water has grown older, increasing maintenance needs and safety risks,” Mbaru warns. “And many nations struggle to translate high-level global rules into actual local laws, port inspections, and daily enforcement.”
For Kenya and the wider East African region, this is not an abstract concern. Mbaru sees it as a direct challenge to regional credibility.
“Our ports are gateways to landlocked economies. Our ship agents are the frontline of compliance. If enforcement fails here, it fails everywhere it matters.”
From Policy to Practice: A Way Forward
Diagnosis without prescription is merely complaint. Mbaru proposes five priorities for the region and the industry:
1. Strengthen regional enforcement capacity.
“Kenya, as a leading maritime nation in East Africa, should invest in port state control, inspector training, and digital compliance systems. The Kenya Ships Agents Association stands ready to partner with regulators.”
2. Establish a Seafarer Welfare Fund.
“A regional fund — supported by shipowners, agents, and governments — could provide emergency repatriation, legal aid, and mental health support for abandoned and distressed crews.”
3. Accelerate green infrastructure.
“East African ports must begin planning now for alternative fuel bunkering, shore power, and green corridor partnerships. Waiting for global solutions is not a strategy.”
4. Close the professional standards gap.
“The Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers’ East Africa Branch will continue to expand accredited training, mentorship, and certification — building professionals who can translate policy into daily practice.”
5. Elevate the African maritime voice.
“Africa must be at the table when IMO regulations, decarbonization timelines, and welfare frameworks are negotiated. Our challenges are unique, and our solutions must be heard.”
Conclusion
The maritime industry has endured severe difficulties — geopolitical shocks, environmental pressure, humanitarian failure, and regulatory drift. But adversity is not destiny.
As Mbaru puts it:
“The path from policy to practice is paved with the decisions we make now: to invest, to enforce, to care, and to collaborate. Powering maritime excellence is not a task for governments alone, nor for shipowners, nor for agents, nor for seafarers. It is a shared enterprise — and it begins with the courage to close the gap between what we say and what we do.”
The tide is turning. The question is whether we are ready to sail with it.