Melina Travlos is President of Union of Greek Shipowners. Image Credit: UGS

Greek shipowners have shown their support for a Panama-Liberia proposal ahead of next week’s IMO technical talks on the Net-Zero Framework (NZF), saying it offers a practical basis for reaching a global deal.

The industry remains committed to cutting emissions but warned that decarbonisation targets must reflect technological and market realities, Melina Travlos, President of the Union of Greek Shipowners, said in a statement on Monday.

“The course of the negotiations to date, however, has revealed significant weaknesses in the proposed IMO Net-Zero Framework, which clearly is not the solution,” Travlos said.

She described the Panama-Liberia approach as a “balanced and pragmatic foundation” for further negotiations, while noting that it could still be improved.

The proposal was put forward ahead of the MEPC 84 meeting earlier this year and included linking the NZF’s GHG fuel-intensity targets to the price and availability of commercially available fuels.

It gathered support from some IMO member states at the time.

Travlos said the proposal considers the affordability, availability and scalability of alternative fuels, while also recognising the role of ship energy efficiency in cutting emissions when suitable fuels are unavailable or too expensive.

She also called for a single global framework adopted by the IMO, saying the shipping industry must have a meaningful role in shaping rules it will be required to implement.

“Ambitious targets, however, need to remain realistic,” Travlos said, warning that measures that overlook market realities could burden economies without delivering the intended environmental benefits.

The IMO’s working group meeting is scheduled to take place from September 1 -4.

“The goal is one: meaningful decarbonisation,” Travlos said.

The proposal has also faced opposition, with Norway arguing that the Liberia-led approach could promote fuels such as fossil LNG.