Industry Conservatives to Blame for Lack of Action on Shipping GHGs: Louis Dreyfus Armateurs

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Wednesday May 8, 2019

Philippe Louis-Dreyfus, president of French shipowner Louis Dreyfus Armateurs, says various "conservative people around the table" are to blame for the lack of action on tackling GHG emissions.

"If we have things imposed on us by the [International Maritime Organisation], it's because we have not moved and been proactive ourselves," he told the Financial Times.

Louis-Dreyfus' firm is one of 107 owners who have called for mandatory speed limits to reduce bunker consumption and the associated emissions.

The move is also popular with climate campaigners, including the currently high-profile youth group UK Student Climate Network (USCN) who this week were one of the groups to address IMOs latest gathering to discuss how it will tackle industry emissions.

But Louis-Dreyfus, along with other shipping CEOs calling for the move such as Euronav CEO, Hugo De Stoop, acknowledge that ship speed limits would also be good for business by helping to tackle overcapacity and give a boost to freight rates.

Cynics say this is the real motive to implement speed limits, particularly as it comes at a time when owners are struggling to convince customers they will need to pay for the increased cost of IMO2020, and the environmental benefits of speed limits are just a happy byproduct of the move.

With the new sulfur cap less than 8 months away and the challenges of the upcoming IMO2030 and IMO2050 targets ahead, Louis Dreyfus Armateurs' latest vessel, that departed her yard in Turkey yesterday, is aptly named Wind of Change.

Ship & Bunker News Team
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