At its annual meeting in Rome, Italian shipowners’ association Assarmatori, whose members include Moby, GNV and several other short-sea ferry operators, criticised a new regulatory measure requiring ETS funds for fleet renewal to be spent exclusively on newbuildings or vessel retrofits at European shipyards.
Calling the geographical restriction “nonsense”, Assarmatori Chairman Stefano Messina said it was the reason why Italy’s 2021–2022 Fleet Renewal Decree largely failed, with only a small portion of the EUR 500 million budget being used.
According to the association, European shipyards lack the capacity to build most commercial vessels, apart from naval ships, cruise vessels and, to a limited extent, ferries. Assarmatori argues that Italian operators can renew their fleets only if they are free to place orders outside Europe.