A leading German shipowner expects European owners will start to review their use of the UK flag as a consequence of the Brexit vote.
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“It is so narrow-minded and petty that it hurts,” said Thomas Rehder, the former president of the European Community Shipowners Association (ECSA).
He expects that the UK and the remaining European Union members will be marginalized as a consequence of Brexit and that shipping will suffer in the coming years.
“I think we will pay a price for it,” he said.
“Europe will pay a lesser role. It will take a generation to heal.”
Rehder believes expected UK shipping will suffer as European Union owners reassess their use of UK flag, including the Gibraltar register.
That view was echoed by Alexander Geisler, head of the Hamburg Shipbrokers Association (VHSS), who said the EU flag was needed to comply with German tonnage tax requirements.
You will see a lot of blank faces here in Germany,” said Geisler.
Rehder expects European shipping companies to review their UK operations, including Greeks that have a historic presence.
He believes that European shipping to suffer because it would take years for the UK to forge a new legal agreement with the European Union.
“It’s going to cost us a growth dynamic.”
“It will create so much uncertainty that it will reflect on demand in certain areas in shipping.”
“Its as superfluous as we can possibly be. And politically, it is more than a shame -- you are playing with your children’s future.”
Rehder contrasted the voting habits of younger voters where the majority voted to remain, with an older generation over 50 that comprised a larger portion of the leave vote.
“That tells you something: You have given your country’s future to the hands of the worried elderly, and that is never a good basis to move forward,” he said.
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