EPCA ’08: Chem shippers urge unity on key issues

30 September 2008 11:25  [Source: ICIS news]

MONTE CARLO (ICIS news)--Leaders in global chemicals shipping have urged the industry to unify and work with governments to solve key issues such as piracy and the implementation of emissions trading schemes, they said on Tuesday.
 
Speaking at the European Petrochemicals Association (EPCA) meeting, Stolt Tankers president Hans Feringa said the industry was not doing enough to promote itself at government level and risked being shaped by legislation out of its sphere of influence.
 
“We’re not going to get to more economically-driven improvements if we do everything on our own,” Feringa said.

"The governments don’t know who to talk to and we have to be responsible for our own disproportionately small impact."
 
The speakers urged governments and international bodies to take immediate action to prevent widespread hijackings of their ships in the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Somalia.
  
With the latest attacks, the tally of ships hijacked off the coast of Somalia this year has risen to more than 40, with at least 133 seafarers still being held hostage.
 
“We have a disproportionately small voice in shipping,” said Feringa.

"We play a very important role in global transportation, but could you find another industry that has to sit on the sidelines and see 16 ships pirated in the Gulf of Aden, and only the fact that one had tanks on board led to any action?"
 
Jan Kopernicki, head of shipping at Shell Trading & Shipping, said the UN and Nato should act with a  naval deployment in the region to prevent further attacks. 

He said piracy would remain a long-term problem in the region while Somalia remained in political turmoil.

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By: Mark Watts
+44 20 8652 3214

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