Italian shipowners’ association Confitarma chaired by Mario Mattioli (and backed by Grimaldi Group among others) publicly complained and protested for public subsidies (roughly EUR 225 million) addressed to ships renewal plan on the local cabotage. “It would result in an unfair economic advantage for those companies which are investing now, on late, on green shipping solutions, if compared with those which have already spent money for the same purpose,” according to Confitarma.
Luca Sisto, general manager of the association, highlighted that, “some Italian shipping companies have already invested millions of euros to implement and improve solutions aimed at reducing emissions.”
Confitarma would like the Italian government to extend to every kind of ships (not only small ferries) the subsidies, to link the financial measure to the effective cost of the investments done by the company and to remove the limit which impose for the vessel subsidized the obligation to operate on the local cabotage.