A PANEL of five shipowners tore into the IMO Net Zero Framework (NZF) arguing that the regulations are made without consulting industry and that if passed will only raise prices for consumers.
Who knew that owners were so concerned about the poor consumer? A bemused and a little amused Arsenio Dominguez Secretary General of the IMO, sat in the front row of the Cyprus Maritime Conference in Limassol, pointed out that the UN body has many opinions and these were not the only shipowner opinions.
That much was apparent as only one of the five panellists, Semiramis Paliou, CEO at Diana Shipping, dissented from the majority panel view.
She was the only woman on stage with four giants of Greek shipping, such as John Coustas of Danaos and Thanassis Martinos of Eastern Mediterranean, George Procopiou, chairman of Dynacom Tankers, and Andreas Hadjiyannis, CEO of Cyprus Sea Lines and Hellenic Tankers. Was it any wonder she admitted to “feeling a little intimidated.”
Procopiou had opened the panel discussion claiming that the IMO’s climate regulations were a kolotoumba, a Greek word meaning that they would achieve the opposite of the intended effect, raising costs and emissions. While in Hadjiyannis’s view man-made carbon emissions were just 10% of the CO2 in the atmosphere and the maritime industry’s contribution was so miniscule that it really doesn’t matter.
oliticians, said Procopiou, offer the “desirable” solutions because they have a short time in office, whereas shipowners and business people look for the “doable”. Shipowners added Procopiou always want to buy the most environmentally friendly ships, because the amount of fuel that you save is proportional to the amount of fuel you burn.
“It is the first time that shipowners and environmentalists are aligned, all of us want less pollution.” But Procopiou, added, no green fuels are available. “If there is a good quality fuel that makes less emissions, tell us where to buy it.”
