An ageing population is a demographic time-bomb facing an increasing number of countries. Low birth rates and the cost of supporting an ever growing number of retirees are yet more problems facing millennials in years to come. As our sister daily publication Splash reported recently, the global merchant shipping fleet is also getting increasingly geriatric, with predictions of demolition outstripping available newbuilding berths. Is this not a scenario we have been threatened with before? Perha...