The price of a sea crossing will soar, threatening jobs and businesses, unless ferry operators are exempted from imminent environmental regulation, shipowners have warned.
The UK Chamber of Shipping claims that the cost of new laws on sulphur emissions that will apply within the North Sea and Channel will mean longer ferry routes are no longer viable or competitive.
Regulation on shipping lags far behind laws on land-based pollution, with low-grade ship fuel having up to 2,000 times the sulphur content of diesel used in British cars. While the shipping body says it agrees that there is “a clear and unequivocal need” to reduce poisonous sulphur emissions from ships, it argues that the deadline is not feasible for UK operators.
Click here to read the full story.
