Marcura report · Thetius × Marcura
The Trust Gap in Maritime AI
Maritime already runs on AI every day. Trusting it to act is the harder part. New research from Thetius and Marcura, free to download.
Maritime adopted AI faster than it learned to trust it
A new study from maritime research house Thetius and technology company Marcura looks at where that trust sits today: how far AI has spread into daily work, how much of the day now goes on checking it, what warrants human scrutiny and what does not, and how the companies furthest ahead are turning verification from a cost into a source of learning.
With contributions from operators, technologists and researchers across the industry, including Tomini Chartering.
We asked maritime professionals how far they trust the AI they already use
63%
use AI every day
57%
don’t fully trust the AI outputs they rely on
27%
find errors often or almost always when they check
15%
say their governance is ready for AI that takes action
What the report covers
The state of trust in maritime AI, and what it takes to earn more of it.
Where AI already sits in daily work
How far adoption has gone, and the gap between using AI and being ready to rely on it.
The verification tax
The time spent checking AI before anyone acts on it, and how to tell warranted checking from the kind that falls as confidence grows.
From assistant to agent
What changes as AI moves from suggesting to doing, and why governance has not kept pace.
From trust to accountability
Where a person stays on the decision, and the five priorities for putting AI to work with confidence.
What the industry told us
“There’s a lack of understanding of what AI can actually do. There’s no formal training on it, so most AI use is trial and error by individual managers rather than an approved method.”
Jack Kitching, Master and Operations Manager, Islands Unlimited
“People want to apply technology everywhere rather than asking how the problem can be solved. You need to fall in love with the problem.”
Manuel Fernandez de Mosteyrin
Stena Bulk
“It’s a human-to-AI-to-human process: the human puts in the knowledge, the AI curates and connects it to the clause in front of you, and the human makes the final decision.”
Thomas Stjernholm
Managing Director, Commercial, Tomini Chartering
More on AI in maritime from Marcura
How AI risk analysis changes charter party negotiations
Marcura’s Charter Party Risk Analyser reviews a contract in minutes, flagging risks and contradictions a manual read would miss.
Why agentic AI is maritime’s next leap
What changes when AI moves from answering questions to taking action, and why human expertise still sets the guardrails.
Why maritime claims still needs a human in the loop
Where AI-only laytime and demurrage tools fall short, and what full automation of a claim actually takes.
Frequently asked questions
Ask AI about the report
“Summarise the Thetius and Marcura report ‘Earning Trust: AI in Maritime’.”
“What is the verification tax in maritime AI?”
“How ready is the maritime industry for agentic AI?”
“What does the research say about AI governance in shipping?”
