Mapping the Ocean Industries: Understanding the Complexity and Interdependencies
Ocean industries play a vital role in our global economy, from transportation to energy production to research and exploration. However, mapping out the vast and diverse ocean industry landscape can be challenging due to its complexity and interdependencies. In this article, we will explore how the ocean industry can be categorized and visualized to understand its different components and their relationships better.
The Kickoff for Part Two: Mapping the Ocean Industry
As part of our ongoing effort to understand the ocean industry, we are now embarking on part two of our exploration: mapping all of the ocean industries as comprehensively as possible within the constraints of 20 days. This is a significant task, considering the multitude of activities and stakeholders involved in the ocean industry. However, we have devised a plan to create a graphical map of the ocean industry to facilitate our understanding.
Two Approaches to Mapping the Ocean Industry
There are two main approaches we are taking to map the ocean industry landscape. The first approach is to categorize activities based on their location, including onshore and transport hubs, inland waterways, coastal areas, and deep sea. This categorization allows us to understand the different types of activities happening in each area and their interdependencies.
Categorizing Activities Based on Location
- Onshore and transport hubs: This category includes activities that happen onshore, such as port operations, logistics, and supply chain management, as well as activities that occur at transport hubs, such as airports and railway stations, which are critical for ocean transportation.
- Inland waterways: This category encompasses activities that take place in rivers, canals, and other inland water bodies, such as inland water transportation, aquaculture, and recreational boating.
- Coastal areas: This category includes activities that happen in the coastal zone, such as coastal shipping, aquaculture, and coastal tourism.
- Deep sea: This category primarily involves activities related to deep-sea transportation, such as shipping, research, and exploration.
Identifying Difficulties and Interdependencies
By categorizing activities based on their location, we can identify the different challenges and interdependencies among the various parts of the ocean space. For example, activities in coastal areas may have impacts on both onshore and deep-sea activities, while deep-sea activities may require support from onshore and transport hubs for logistics and supplies. Understanding these interdependencies is crucial for designing sustainable and resilient ocean industries.
The second approach we are taking to map the ocean industry is to group activities based on their nature and stakeholders. We have created a loose Venn diagram that depicts the different players in the ocean industry and their relationships.
Grouping Activities Based on Nature and Stakeholders
- Governance and regulators: This group includes national and international regulatory bodies that set guidelines and laws for ocean industry operations. It also includes industry bodies that make recommendations for safer and more sustainable industries.
- Professional services: This group includes chartering and brokerage, hull clubs, admiralty law firms, vetting firms, and other professional services that support the operations of the ocean industry.
- Operations and assets: This group encompasses the producers, transporters, construction, expedition, naval, and pleasure/passenger vessels that are involved in various activities such as energy production, aquaculture, fishing, mining, transportation, construction, research, exploration, and military operations.
Creating a Hybrid Model for Understanding the Ocean Space
Our goal is to create a hybrid model of the ocean space by combining the categorization based on location and the grouping based on nature and stakeholders. This model will help us understand the complexities and interdependencies of the ocean industry, which will be invaluable for our further exploration in parts three and four of our study.
Impacts of Ocean
Industries on the Ocean industries have significant impacts on various aspects, including the environment, economy, society, and policy. The growing interest and development of ocean industries, such as offshore energy, fishing, transportation, and tourism, have brought both benefits and challenges. The complexities and interdependencies of these industries highlight the need for further exploration in the subsequent parts of the study.
