The shipping giants – Maersk, MSC, CMA-CGM and Hapag-Lloyd – are benefiting greatly from the EU Emissions Trading System (‘ETS’), according to a new study by the NGO network Transport & Environment (T&E), which was published on Tuesday 26 March.
As well as passing on the ‘ETS’ costs (see EUROPE 13233/8, 13344/2) to their customers in the form of surcharges, these companies have made significant windfall profits by setting these surcharges higher than the actual costs associated with the system. Based on a sample of more than 500 container ship journeys to and from Europe, T&E found that shipping lines overcharged in almost 90% of cases.
This analysis shows that carriers could in fact have a greater incentive to visit European ports as they could make money out of it.
“Emissions pricing alone will not lead to effective price signals in the shipping industry”, noted T&E. “As such, bespoke energy efficiency legislation at both EU and IMO (International Maritime Organization) level is needed alongside emissions pricing”, added T&E.
To read the study, go to: https://aeur.eu/f/bj1 (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)