EU pollution requirements could harm trade

The Union of Greek Shipowners warned that EU pressure on shipowners to shoulder progressively stricter anti-pollution safeguards will end up undermining a vital industry and encourage law-abiding operators to skirt regulations,.

In a speech at the recent Intertanko conference in Piraeus, union chairman Nikos Efthymiou also said the EU’s toughening stance and increasing antagonism with the IMO risks driving operators from European shores. Most EU member states advocate tough action in the wake of the November 2002 Prestige tanker disaster but, in November, Greece aroused the ire of environmental groups by saying it would block a key EU agreement aimed at cracking down on ships that dump pollutants into the sea.

In his speech, Efthymiou argued that the EU’s new legislation on pollution “criminalises crew members and others in cases where ships are involved in incidents of accidental pollution. Criminalisation will discourage seafarers from co-operating fully with casualty inquiries or accident investigation.” He said that the EU initiatives “seem to be driven by people who are not familiar with the practical operation of ships at sea and take a simplistic view of pollution incidents,” and argued that the EU should follow the IMO’s lead on such matters.

“Some quarters in Brussels forget that the European shipping industry is a respectable and vital sector of the European economy,” Efthymiou said. “The EU depends exclusively on ships for the transportation of its oil trade and for the continuity of its energy supply and those who interfere should be aware that in the end, it is not just shipping but world trade that will be disturbed.”