Ship inspection company’s boss recognises what the UK-headquartered operation is best known for, but has plans to develop new business
Idwal chief executive Nick Owens is looking to harness artificial intelligence to move the company into new business areas.
Owens is happy with the ship inspection company’s position in the sale-and-purchase arena and is now looking to tap into its databanks to move into new areas, such as insurance and finance.
Idwal is owned by management and a private equity vehicle, Lloyds Development Corp, since it was bought out from Graig Shipping in 2023. Its core business is S&P deal inspections.
Owens told TradeWinds: “One of the really attractive areas for us is related to data and AI.
“In the last six years, we’ve inspected circa 15% of the global fleet in terms of unique International Maritime Organization numbers.
The company inspects about 3,500 ships each year and issues between 4,500 and 5,000 reports.
Owens explained: “When we survey ships, we take a very, very structured methodology to collect and harness data.
“In a complete, open and transparent way with our clients, we aim to share that data back into the market and be able to drive benchmarking and insights.
“We have AI capabilities, already deploy AI tools and believe we can further accelerate our AI capabilities to the benefit of our clients.”
The aim would be to become more of an insight provider to the industry, as well as a hands-on, boots-on-the-ground type of organisation, Owens said.
He said: “There is a demand for growth and evolution in your business, as you can imagine.
“We will, over the next couple of years, start to really unlock that data journey and see where we can add value from a data perspective to businesses that we already support, companies that we work closely with.”
Owens believes that data will be relevant to fresh markets.
He said: “Markets where we perhaps don’t operate that much, the adjacent markets — finance, insurance — looking into that dataset and making structured, sensible decisions on it, is perhaps an area where we can probably play quite well.”
Idwal has its own IT, product and data teams in Cardiff.
Owens said: “We are fundamentally a tech-enabled service provider, and I think we’re on a journey to becoming more and more of a data and insights partner.”
He told TradeWinds the S&P business remains important and is where the company is most recognised.
But an increasingly important part of operations is the fleet condition monitoring and improvement programme, Idwal ID.
This turns static reports into live intelligence so users can access grades, benchmark against the global dataset, monitor trends and manage defects,” Owens said.
He added: “It’s helping them be more profitable … to maintain their reputation with other stakeholders, charterers and financiers.
“We’re seeing quite a lot of traction in that space. And that’s probably something to do with the fact that there is increased scrutiny of the regulatory landscape.
“There is more access to information and data than ever. So I think it’s more important and more prudent than ever that owners navigate that complex landscape.”
Idwal identifies 2022 and 2023 as high points for S&P deals, with volumes having dipped since.
This is due to uncertainty over net-zero regulations and sanctions, among other things, Owens said.
He told TradeWinds: “Some groups, some owners thrive on that uncertainty; others prefer to operate in a more certain environment.
“We’ve definitely seen a reduction in S&P activity.”
Generally speaking, Owens said, more bulkers than tankers tend to change hands, but it requires the fundamentals of the market to align.
He said: “You don’t want asset prices to be too high. You don’t want rates to be too low. And there are sweet spots in every sort of sub-segment.
“I’d be quite happy if people inspected lots and lots of ships and never sold them. Then they’d come back for another one.
“We like it when there’s a lot of interest in the secondhand market. That’s a good place for us to be.”
The key is structured, consistent, and repeated inspections and analytics, Owens said.
He added: “We’ve got an ageing fleet, so that’s a good thing for S&P. We’ve got a landscape where there’s uncertainty around fuel choices, etc, which is not going to be great for newbuildings.
“It’s generally going to draw [interest] back to the S&P market.
“We’re anticipating there will be a bit more activity in 2026 than there has been in 2025. We’re fairly optimistic about that.
Shunning the shadow flee
As for shadow fleet deals, Owens said: “We are a transparent, well-governed business. There’s no question of us dabbling around in the shadow part of the market.
“How they are doing their transactions, I don’t know, but we certainly won’t be involved.”
An Idwal surveyor conduction an inspection in Wales.
Although based in Wales, Idwal has offices in Singapore, Shanghai, Athens and Tokyo, which Owens believes gives the company the “global reach” to be an “attractive proposition”.
However, maintaining the global workforce is becoming more of a “challenge”, Owens said, with fewer candidates with “high-quality maritime experience”.
He said: “If you‘re going to be a surveyor, it’s important that you go to sea for a period of time. Ideally, you’re a senior rank. It’s a skill set that you need to hone.
“We do a heck of a lot of work on training, recruitment, standards and governance. We’ve started structured training programmes for surveyors in our own business and for external people.
“We’re a 14-year-old company, so we’ve got a lot of experience to give back to the market.”
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