Although the Government in Italy has just introduced a second regulatory measure aimed at stimulating the renewal of shipping fleets operating in Italy and Europe, the shipping industry does not appear keen to take advantage of it.
“When the decree was introduced by the then Minister Giovannini, we at Toremar submitted a project using EU funds; we secured the funding, but the investment required to build in Europe was unsustainable. If we did it today, would we actually receive the aid?” is the rhetorical question posed by Achille Onorato, Vice-President of Assarmatori and Chief Executive Officer of Moby. “We have carried out retrofitting and reblading work, but we haven’t seen the money yet, so I no longer trust the state. When it comes to investing with the risk of not seeing public funds, I say ‘no, thank you’ – I don’t trust it.”
During his speech at Assarmatori’s annual general meeting, Moby’s top manager also explained why it is today more competitive to order and build ferries in China rather than in Europe. “The Chinese shipyards are just as good as the European ones at building ships; they are faster, they are cheaper, and they have an export credit system that allows them to offer low interest rates. They offer a complete package; three of them turned up at my office without me even having to go looking for them. Even during the Covid pandemic, with all the difficulties at the time, they saw the construction through to the end and delivered the ship without demanding extra payments for any financial covenants that had not been met,” said Onorato, urging the Italian industry to adopt the same approach. “I don’t see this approach here or elsewhere in Europe. This new decree on fleet renewal will be yet more money thrown down the drain.”
Highlighting how the islands are losing even more competitiveness (“exports from Sardinia are at a standstill at the moment”), the head of Moby and Toremar called on Europe to support shipping companies in their transition to decarbonisation: “We cannot be greener than our pockets allow; it’s a problem that affects our customers and our businesses. Today, passengers and island-based businesses are paying the ETS because fares have risen. Support for the transition to the ETS must be provided now that the review is under way.”
According to Onorato, moreover, “it is wrong to distinguish between small and large islands; a criterion that distinguishes between wealthier and less wealthy islands would be better. One approach could be to exempt connections to islands that fall below the European poverty line from paying the ETS.”