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ICS warns OECD over rising bunker costs

ICS warns OECD over rising bunker costs
The International Chamber of Shipping  has spelled out the implications of higher distillate fuel costs to a meeting of OECD Transport ministers in Leipzig, Germany.

Speaking on behalf of ICS, Stena AB ceo Carl-Johan Hagman warned “Distillate fuels currently cost around 50% more than residual fuel and the difference between the two fuels is expected to increase as the use of distillate becomes mandatory. Without significant extra production of distillate fuels, how should ship operators manage these extra fuel costs?”

Environmental issues are important but there has to be balance between green measures and their economic implications, he urged, or bunker prices may rise "so high that they may have a dramatic impact on world trade or force cargo back onto roads or to other less carbon-efficient modes of transport.”

"If governments and regulators are serious about the concept of sustainable shipping, then we must give serious consideration to these cost-benefit questions," he concluded.