BIMCO, ECSA, INTERTANKO and INTERCARGO take the fight over regulation to Athens during the Capital Link conference at Posidonia, complaining that the shipping industry has become legislative guinea pig, denigrated by European politicians and targeted owing to a lack of political weight. […] Intercargo chairman John Platsidakis questioned whether they had received commitments from refineries that they will have sufficient low sulphur fuels by 2020, a recurring concern shared by shipowners and operators. “My understanding is that if you press the refineries, there is a political cost. But if you do so on tramp shipping there is none. Because tramp shipping appears to be almost stateless and the political value or the political weight of tramp shipping is very low,” he said. Mr Platsidakis added that consumers are either ignorant of, or cannot know of, the contribution of the very efficient contribution of the shipping market. “It is the charterers who, at the end of the day, will have to provide the ships with the appropriate bunkers. But so far we have heard so little from them,” he said.
- Read the full article on Lloyd’s List here
- Read also an article on Lloyd’s List about the relevant INTERCARGO co-sponsored submission at IMO here (“Marshall Islands submits safety views on 2020 fuel switch“)
