Owners, operators, a technology provider and a major miner aligned last week at Splash Singapore on a single point: the competitive edge in ship chartering is shifting from data volume to the quality of the people interpreting it. Willem Vermaat, representing Heidelberg Materials Trading on the panel, told delegates that AI has absorbed the "science end" of the business but cannot replace the human relationships that move real tonnage.

The panel covered AI, digital platforms and data transparency across the fixing process. Most attendees agreed the underlying picture has sharpened. Vessel performance, emissions, ETA accuracy and port productivity now flow through connected platforms with far more consistency than five years ago.

What did the data discussion miss?

Data trust and AI trust are not the same problem. Classification societies, vetting platforms such as RightShip and AXSMarine, and contractual pressure from cargo owners have lifted reporting standards. Yet Vermaat drew a hard line between trusting a data point and trusting a model-generated recommendation.

He pointed to philosopher and leadership thinker Julio Olalla's framework of six trust elements: sincerity, consistency, competence, reliability, credibility and respect. "Technology can genuinely claim some of these," Vermaat said, citing consistency, competence and reliability as functions a well-built platform can deliver.

Why does sincerity matter in chartering?

Sincerity is the one AI cannot fake. The term implies intent — a conscious choice to be transparent when silence would be easier. Vermaat framed it bluntly: "Google Maps will never apologise when it sends you the wrong way. It just says recalculating. Recalculating is a function. An apology is a choice."

In chartering, that translates to a desk sharing bad news first — a stem that isn't ready, a vessel that underperformed, a market call that missed. Each disclosure costs something in the short term and preserves the relationship. A machine has no stake in that trade-off.

Will AI replace chartering intuition?

Vermaat's answer was "neither, quite." AI has taken the science of chartering — pattern recognition, scenario modelling, historical accuracy — and run with it. The art, reading a market a month ahead, timing a move, knowing which counterparty in the network will hold to a verbal stem, still belongs to people.

The panel was honest about limits. Even with cleaner data, brokers and operators still share load readiness informally and hold back information for longer than they should. "Old habits," Vermaat admitted.

Is there a leadership gap ahead?

One audience member asked whether the next generation of charterers will have the foundational experience to challenge models when they fail or when markets stop behaving. Vermaat answered from his own desk: "I deliberately let my people make mistakes, within limits. Not because I enjoy watching them struggle, but because that is how judgment gets built. You cannot develop the instinct to know when the AI is wrong if you have never learned what right feels like."

What happens next in ship fixing?

Trust in AI will grow as tools improve. Sincerity, the willingness to be honest when it costs something, will remain a human responsibility. For shipowners, operators and cargo desks, the near-term trajectory is more automation in the analytical layer, not less — but the deals that matter will still close on relationships, not on dashboards.