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Bulk carrier owners stressed by EU’s green deal

New emission abatement regulations are proving a major headache for Greek owners and, in particular for bulk carrier owners, which are the largest category of owners in Greece.

Nick Savvides, Europe correspondent

December 13, 2023

1 Min Read
Bulk carrier owners stressed by EU’s green deal
Seatrade Maritime

Nikos Kakalis, Lloyd’s Register (LR)’s global bulk carrier segment director, told Seatrade that Greek owners own 25% of the world’s bulk fleet, by deadweight; and 47% of the Greek owned fleet are bulk ships, given these statistics it is little wonder that tramp shipping, which faces sector specific challenges in the decarbonisation process, is causing anxiety.

“Bulk shipping is hugely characterised by its tramp shipping nature, a ship can call anywhere in the world, in places that may have the best port facilities, and in places whose facilities may not be the best, it may have long waiting times and challenging conditions, so a bulk carrier needs to be very flexible,” explained Kakalis.

He added, “That means, in terms of the energy transition, the dilemma and the solutions are far from trivial.”

Essentially, in the early stages of the green transition the availability of green fuels will be at best patchy.

Low and zero carbon fuels may be available at ports where demand will be higher, largely where liner services call, because the demand there can be guaranteed as liner services call regularly at the same ports.

Whereas a bulk carrier could be called to go anywhere in the world, often to ports where the demand for green fuels is not high.

If you haven’t already, check the full article in our Hellas Maritime Report 2023

About the Author

Nick Savvides

Europe correspondent

Experienced journalist working online, in monthly magazines and daily news coverage. Nick Savvides began his journalistic career working as a freelance from his flat in central London, and has since worked in Athens, while also writing for some major publications including The Observer, The European, Daily Express and Thomson Reuters. 

Most recently Nick joined The Loadstar as the publication’s news editor to develop the profile of the publication, increase its readership and to build a team that will market, sell and report on supply chain issues and container shipping news. 

This was a similar brief to his time at ci-online, the online publication for Containerisation International and Container News. During his time at ci-online Nich developed a team of freelancers and full-time employees increasing its readership substantially. He then moved to International Freighting Weekly, a sister publication, IFW also focused on container shipping, rail and trucking and ports. Both publications were published by Informa. 

Following his spell at Informa Nick joined Reed’s chemical reporting team, ICIS, as the chemical tanker reporter. While at ICIS he also reported on the chemical industry and spent some time on the oil & gas desk. 

Nick has also worked for a time at Lloyd’s Register, which has an energy division, and his role was writing their technical magazine, before again becoming a journalist at The Naval Architect for the Royal Institution of Naval Architects. After eight successful years at RINA, he joined Fairplay, which published a fortnightly magazine and daily news on the website.

Nick's time at Fairplay saw him win the Seahorse Club Journalist of the Year and Feature Writer of the Year 2018 awards.

After Fairplay closed, Nick joined an online US start-up called FreightWaves. 

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