EMEA News
ECA May Push Shipping to English Channel, Roads
The United Kingdom port of Humber could be hurt by the new sulfur cap set to take effect in European Emission Control Areas (ECAs) next year, local newspaper the Hull Daily Mail reports based on a study by transport analyst PRB Associates (PRB).
Peter Baker, managing director of PRB, said shippers who currently move goods from North Sea ports such as Rotterdam to Humber may switch to a combination of trucking and shipping across the English Channel.
Since the trip across the English Channel is much shorter than travelling across the North Sea, the additional cost of buying low-sulfur fuel or using ships equipped with scrubbers is less significant.
"If there was an equal additional cost for trucks driving up north, it wouldn't be so bad," Baker said.
The report also found Humber's business with the Baltic and Scandinavian regions is not growing as fast as port officials had hoped.
"It's cheaper to take trade by road than by sea over longer European routes," Baker said.
"Sea routes are not developing because of the relatively low costs of freight rates on the Channel Tunnel and the regularity of service."
The Humber Chamber of Commerce's Shipping Committee wrote to government officials in 2012 saying the 0.10 percent sulfur fuel cap that takes effect in 2015 "could have a serious impact on both the local, regional, and national economy."
