A new magazine, SplashTech, launches today, examining how technology is reshaping the way shipping operates, competes and makes decisions. Built around original interviews, industry data and practical case studies, the publication moves beyond hype to explore what actually works onboard and ashore.

The launch comes as shipping's digitalisation push accelerates: regulators have already pushed cyber risk into mainstream compliance via the IMO's guidance on cyber risk management in safety management systems, and growing environmental reporting requirements are increasing the volume of operational data ships must collect and share. That backdrop makes the magazine's editorial agenda — separating workable technology from vendor promises — timely for an industry with historically thin margins and mixed-age fleets.

The magazine covers AI, digital ROI, interoperability, data ownership, cyber risk, workforce skills, consolidation, edge computing and the challenge of scaling technology across fleets. Its focus is firmly commercial and operational: where technology saves money, reduces risk, improves decisions and creates lasting value.

SplashTech brings together leading shipowners, technologists and maritime executives to assess what matters next for shipping worldwide. It is being distributed in print, at events and online.

Today's installment comes from editor Sam Chambers, who offers shipowners and charterers four questions to ask before signing another technology contract.

After wading through tens of thousands of words from maritime technology leaders for this magazine, one conclusion stands out: shipowners do not need to become technology experts. They need to become better technology buyers.

Before signing the next software contract, Chambers says, ask four questions.

What exactly will this save me?

Not "up to 5%". Not "greater efficiency". Demand a baseline, measurable KPIs and a date by which value should become visible. The strongest vendors increasingly accept this themselves. Savings also extend beyond fuel: off-hire avoided, crew hours returned, fewer systems, maintenance interventions prevented and reduced compliance work all count.

Will it work with what I already have?

Every vendor's product works beautifully in its own demonstration. Your vessel is different. Mixed-age fleets contain decades of machinery, software and communications technology. Ask what the new application connects to, what integration costs, how long it takes and whether standard APIs are available. Industry efforts on common data standards and interoperability have been under discussion for years, yet many owners still report integration — not the technology itself — as the main barrier to scaling digital tools across fleets.

Better still, ask what happens when you replace the vendor. If extracting your own data requires a six-month project, you have not bought software. You have acquired a dependency.

Who owns my data?

This ought to be settled before the first byte leaves the ship. The operational data generated by a vessel should remain under the owner's control, with explicit rules covering access, purpose, duration and secondary use. Sharing needs clearly defined permissions; ownership should not mean secrecy. With AI, also ask: is my data training your product for somebody else?

Do you actually understand ships?

Shipping is attracting brilliant software engineers who have never dealt with a fouled hull, drifting sensor, intermittent connection or de-rated engine. Generic AI presented with bad maritime context can produce confident nonsense. Ask who inside the vendor has actually operated ships, worked with crews and understands what happens when the elegant digital model collides with the messy physical world.

Technology should remove complexity, not introduce another invoice, another silo and another problem for the superintendent to solve. That is the fifth question hiding beneath the first four: does this genuinely make running ships easier?

The full magazine is available free online at Splash247.