The winning green shipping solutions will be those who demonstrate a deep understanding of the challenges facing shipowners, said Ms Gilpin. 

Collaboration between shipowners and manufacturers is the route to a more sustainable future, but in practice, this is a real challenge," she said. 

"Having spent more than a decade working closely with shipowners to understand the real-world challenges they face, I have come to notice a real lack of direct engagement between them and those building green solutions," she said.

"Globally, our current fleet comprises approximately 61,000 cargo ships. Embracing alternative fuels would mean retrofitting engines - a process that might take 12-14 months, cost between US$5 million to $15 million per ship, and is only appropriate for about 10 per cent of vessels. Ships powered by alternative fuels require larger volumes of fuel to cover the same distance - meaning larger storage tanks.

It's difficult to design for these changes when there is still so much uncertainty about which fuels we will be using in 30-50 years.

"Larger storage tanks mean lower cargo capacity, leading to lower revenues. This is without considering the uncertainties around the price and availability of green fuel, which is currently predicted to cost 4 to 9 times more than its fossil-based alternative; or blue fuel, which costs 2 to 5 times more."

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