Transmed Shipping chief warns pushing hard on green transition will mean ‘bankruptcy and poverty’
‘We have lost track of what sustainability actually is,’ chief executive Nicole Mylona tells maritime conference
Measuring reduced fuel oil consumption on vessels over the last generation is a better gauge of green transition, according to the privately owned Greek shipowner, which runs a fleet of 27 ships
DRASTIC changes to pursue sustainability will deliver bankruptcy and consolidation in shipping the chief executive of Greece-based shipowner Transmed Shipping has told the Maritime Cyprus conference.
Transmed’s Nicole Mylona said saving the next generation was a pretence for sustainability and added “we have lost track of what sustainability actually is”.
She said the drastic costs of pursuing sustainability and zero carbon shipping — estimated by renowned shipping economist Martin Stopford at between $1.3trn and $1.9trn — were too high.
“The only thing we are going to achieve if we push hard on going forward on such changes is bankruptcy and poverty and that is not saving the next generation,” Mylona said.
“Sustainability is reducing the consumption needed to perform the exact same task.
“Forty years ago, a capesize [bulk carrier] would go through 40 tonnes [of bunkers] daily. We have just taken delivery of a ship that goes through 27.
“I think that is a great transition.”
Mylona was speaking at a panel examining the role of ship finance in shipping’s green transition.
The increased administrative burden imposed by greater regulation had increased pressure on mid-sized companies, she said.
Transmed Shipping operates a fleet of about 27 bulk carriers, according to the Lloyd’s List Intelligence database, and is a supporter of the Cyprus flag, the third-largest in Europe.
Mylona said these burdens could result in consolidation and evolution of a dominant group of five or six giant shipping conglomerates in 20 years’ time at the expense of companies like hers.
The perceived threat regulation posed to smaller shipping companies sat alongside reduced capital availability from traditional banking sources.
Over the past decade, financing has dropped from more than $400bn to less than $300bn said Clarksons Securities chief executive Erik Helberg.
“The biggest problem is not whether you have capital funding to renew your fleet,” said Mylona.
“It is with what [we will renew with]. Everybody’s holding on to their ageing fleet and waiting to see clarity before we invest.”
