IMO is no longer shipping’s governing body, says leading Greek owner

The International Maritime Organization is not the governing body and lawmaker for shipping anymore as different countries and groups of states are doing their own thing when it comes to legislation.

So says leading Greek shipowner Harry Vafias, founder of StealthGas, in an exclusive interview in the latest in our series of SMI Podcasts.

“And what's the point of making laws if half the globe don’t accept them, and also don't have any real logic behind them,” he warned.

“You cannot have a net zero law when you don't have alternative fuels. You are penalising the current fuels and you make owners pay for using the current fuels that are supposedly polluting, when there is nothing to replace them with. If you go to the aviation industry or the automobile industry and tell them this, they'll be laughing.

“You don’t penalise a taxi driver because his car is polluting, if the carmaker cannot make a cleaner car. Just as we shipowners go to the shipyards and buy the latest ship with the latest engine available. If that ship is polluting, then okay, penalise the yards and penalise the engine makers. You don't penalise the buyer who just bought the ship,” he stressed.

The interview will be live on the SMI website during Posidonia week. To listen to SMI podcasts please click:

https://www.shipmanagementinternational.com/webinars-and-podcasts