Shortsea shipping lags on IMO cap

The shortsea shipping industry is being left behind in the effort to adjust to new global environmental regulations despite it being the maritime domain that needs clean fuel the most. Still, the positive impact of these regulations is the subject of some dispute.

Greece, a dominant player in shortsea shipping, as it is in oceangoing shipping, hosted the annual European Conference of the European Shortsea Network in Piraeus on Thursday. One of its panels tackled the issue of the new International Maritime Organization rules, which include the imposition of a 0.5 percent sulfur cap on the fuel used as of January 2020, to which the shortsea shipping industry has been slow to adapt.

"Liquefied natural gas is the mother of all alternative fuels," stressed Panos Zachariadis, technical director at Atlantic Bulk Carriers and a member of the Greek delegation to IMO.

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