ONE's fifth Container Shipping Summit in Nagasaki focused on resilience and collaboration for future global supply chains.
Ocean Network Express (ONE) convened its fifth Container Shipping Summit in Nagasaki, bringing together industry leaders, government officials, and academic experts to chart a resilient path for global supply chains. The summit centered on a 'backcasting' strategy - working backward from a plausible future to identify the actions the industry must take today.
Building on four previous summits, the gathering advanced ONE's 'ecosystem approach,' a model that engages a broad range of stakeholders to solve challenges no single company can address alone. For cargo owners, forwarders, and buyers who depend on dependable transit and cost control, the discussions carried direct relevance: the resilience and efficiency of tomorrow's networks depend on decisions made now.
Kenichi Michida, Executive Vice President of ONE, opened the summit by underscoring the limits of acting alone in uncertain times.
'In an era of profound uncertainty, no single player can tackle global challenges alone,' Michida said. 'By envisioning a foreseeable world and 'backcasting' from that future, we can determine the strategic actions we must take today. Through this summit, we aim to strengthen strategic alliances with key partners, deepen academic collaboration to foster future-ready talent, and reinforce our global presence. By driving this 'ecosystem approach' and engaging a broader range of stakeholders in discussions, we will work together to build a resilient supply chain and contribute to a better future for society.'
Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki welcomed attendees with a nod to the city's maritime heritage.
'Nagasaki has a long history of connecting with the world by sea,' Suzuki said. 'As maritime transport plays a vital role in sustaining the global economy and our everyday lives, I strongly hope that this summit will foster productive discussions to shape a sustainable future for container shipping.'
Across its five summits, ONE has developed an open, collaborative platform for strategic foresight and analysis. The platform is designed to explore multiple future scenarios in an era defined by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA).
Rather than simply forecasting, the platform simulates a logical, evidence-based vision of the world drawn from currently observable signals, accounting for both gradual and abrupt change. ONE treats that vision as a set of working hypotheses that may shift as conditions evolve. From it, the company backcasts to pinpoint the challenges to address today, then collaborates with stakeholders to advance solutions - an approach that directly serves the reliability and visibility that shippers and their partners rely on.
The summit featured four panel discussions, each rooted in challenges identified at earlier gatherings.
- Theme 1 - AI and automation in operations: Panelists examined how artificial intelligence could transform forecasting, trade-flow analysis, network design, and demand planning, and how AI and automation will reshape hub ports, vessels, and terminal management. Sharper forecasting and network design point toward the on-time performance and efficient route utilization that cargo owners track closely.
- Theme 2 - Financing a net-zero transition: The panel addressed how stakeholders should share the costs and risks of moving toward a resilient, net-zero supply chain, and how collaborative ecosystems can build structural resilience against unexpected disruptions - a central concern for anyone managing exposure to supply chain shocks.
- Theme 3 - Human capital and future skills: Discussion focused on the future of work, examining how AI and digitalization redefine the skills required across maritime roles, and how companies can attract and retain top talent.
- Theme 4 - Regional revitalization through Physical AI: Building on the first three themes, this session used Nagasaki as a case study for regional revitalization, combining Physical AI with local manufacturing expertise amid shifting workstyles and values. Panelists explored concrete paths toward a sustainable ecosystem in which local communities and the maritime industry work in unison.
The panels drew on contributions from researchers and experts across a wide range of institutions: Anchor Ship Partners, Gakushuin University, The Juhachi-Shinwa Bank, Kobe University, Kyoto University, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Institute of Applied Science, the Nagasaki Prefectural Government, the National University of Singapore, PSA Corporation, the Singapore Institute of Technology, Singapore Management University, the Singapore Maritime Foundation, The University of Tokyo, the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, the University of Nagasaki, Waseda University, and Yokohama National University.
Ai Lin Tay, Senior Vice President of Global Human Resources at ONE, thanked participants and closed the summit by placing people at the center of technological change.
'Gathering here in Nagasaki, a city with such a rich history of global connection, has been truly inspiring,' Tay said. 'My biggest takeaway from today is simple: AI and advanced technology are only as effective as the people behind them. As digitalization reshapes our industry, we must equip future maritime leaders with the right skills and mindsets. The true value of this Summit will be measured by the ideas we put into practice when we return to our organizations.'
Drawing on participant feedback, ONE said it will continue to pursue dialogue and collaboration across industry, government, and academia. To address global supply chain challenges beyond the reach of any single company, the company plans to advance its ecosystem approach, joining forces with diverse stakeholders to develop practical solutions and contribute to the future of container shipping and society.
