The US is unlikely to follow the European Union down the path of taxing shipowners when it comes to curbing carbon emissions.
That was the consensus of panellists at the annual Association of Ship Brokers & Agents (ASBA) cargo conference in Miami Beach on Thursday.
A panel focused on the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) was moderated by Marsoft president Arlie Sterling, whose company is offering a programme of voluntary credits linked to improvements in fuel efficiency.
“While the European initiative has much to admire about it, the political environment here in the US is very different,” Sterling told a crowd approaching 300 delegates at the Eden Roc Hotel.
“I can’t speak for anyone else, but it’s going to be a long road before we see anything like it in the US.”
The preferred approach, he added, “is to subsidise a solution”.
Sterling drew a nod from panellist Shankar Vaidyanathan, manager of the Houston sustainability centre for classification society American Bureau of Shipping.
“I agree with you,” Vaidyanathan told Sterling. “The philosophy here is very different. The preference is to give a carrot for growth [of alternative fuels] rather than imposing penalties. The word ‘tax’ is not very popular here, and for good reason.”
Action by individual states — such as environmentally focused California — is much more likely than a national trading system, the ABS executive added.
Still, panellists said the ETS regime that shipping joined in January has not had a noticeable impact on clients’ attitudes towards trading to Europe — at least to date.
Johan Arkema, chartering manager for Spliethoff Group of the Netherlands, said: “So far the market has adjusted and there are not too many questions being asked by our clients.
“But with costs going up to 70% next year — nearly double — and then 100% in 2026, we will have to see what happens.”
Panellists noted that while the intent of the European measures is to push owners and charterers away from traditional fossil fuels and towards biofuels, the latter remain prohibitively expensive at some $1,100 per tonne — nearly double the cost of conventional bunkers.
Brian Thorhauge, group senior risk manager for Monjasa, said: “The play was to ensure that there was a financing scheme in place.
“But as to the three or four technologies we’re going to pursue as a solution, that part of the plan is a bit lacking for now.”
Both the ASBA audience and panellists said they have questions about how the tax proceeds of the ETS are being invested.
While each EU member state is required to invest 50% of tax proceeds in green projects, there is limited visibility around how that is being done and to what extent funds are being directed towards shipowners, Arkema said.
“It’s the main question the owner has as well,” he said. “It’s a question we’re asking ourselves on a daily basis.”
