EUROPEAN Union strategies to cut greenhouse gas emissions from ships will not move freight away from trucks to waterborne transport as desired, but increase truck volumes, says the European Shippers Council (ESC).Because of this, the ESC has called on the European Commission to postpone the emissions deadline for another five years to 2020 to allow refiners to boost supply of fuel and develop ship emissions removal technologies.
The extension of emissions bans into the Baltic and North seas as well as the English Channel will induce shippers to move more freight by road, said the Brussels-based ESC in a statement.
The ESC further predicts a loss of short-sea shipping volume as high as 30 per cent in the northern region of Europe, reports the Journal of Commerce.
To be compliant, the shipping industry will need at least US$3.6 billion - $15.6 billion which the European Commission claims will help reduce the $51 billion public health bill. But the compliance costs will be passed on to shippers, and they will shift to trucking to escape them.
Despite the EU's promotion of short-sea transport and rail to take freight off the roads, ESC says shippers will stick to the road rather than go to rail freight because trucks provide greater reliability, capacity and access.
The key areas to be impacted by the new regulations will be freight of high volume and low profit those on that of ores and forest products.
CEPI, the European paper industry federation, is concerned the measure will hurt them just as they are starting to recover economically. CEPI director-general Teresa Presas said: "Our industry is still recovering from the global recession. To introduce this type of measure now does not allow industry to breathe."
Source : HKSG, 21.07.11
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