EMEA News
Union Calls Shippers' Response to ECAs "Blatantly Alarmist"
British shipping union RMT has spoken out against what it sees as "blatantly alarmist" reactions from the shipping industry regarding upcoming sulfur regulations and the associated costs of compliance.
The new rules have resulted in added costs to ship operators, many of whom have responded by passing added fuel costs onto customers and cutting routes deemed unprofitable.
"Threats of job and route cuts and fare hikes in the shipping industry make no economic sense when global seatrade is set to double over the next twenty years," said RMT General Secretary Mick Cash.
The union said that they were especially worried over the security of jobs and passenger fare levels, especially as the collapsing cost of oil has made the future more uncertain.
"The shipping industry's approach to the sulfur regulations must be seen by Government for what it is: a cynical attempt to wrest more subsidy from the taxpayer to meet conversion costs bound up with the austerity agenda of today's autumn statement," Cash said.
Emission Control Areas (ECA) are due to be implemented beginning next year, when sulfur content in marine fuel used in ECAs will be limited to 0.10 percent by weight.
RMT National Secretary for Shipping Steve Todd added that the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) had agreed with the sulfur limits back when the cap was first announced in 2008, having said at the time that 2015 was a realistic deadline.
"Seafarers, passengers and the national economy must not be forced to pay for the shipping industry's failure to prepare for regulations introduced 6 years ago," he said.
The ICS said this week that shippers were committed to ECAs, though there were concerns about the consistency of enforcement.
