In May 2011, the SSI members launched a Case for Action. It analyses the social, environmental and economic challenges shipping faces and how best to react to them, and it calls on the industry to take far-reaching action.

At the launch event, the SSI members announced: “Our goal is to transform the global shipping industry and the wider maritime sector, establishing a new, sustainable approach as the norm.”

The SSI members called on industry leaders to:

  • Create a shared vision of how the industry should develop over the next 30 years;
  • Prepare for greater scrutiny and demands from customers and society with regard to social and environmental performance;
  • Build and convert ships to the highest standards of energy efficiency in anticipation of high and volatile fuel prices and demands for low-carbon performance;
  • Drive the development of co-ordinated, progressive legislation that rewards sustainability;
  • Develop innovative business models that encourage long-term investment and take into account social and environmental obligations.