Assarmatori, Messina: "No to toll hypothesis at Hormuz"
ROME (ITALPRESS) – A decisive attack on European maritime policies for the decarbonization of maritime transport and, at the same time, the indication of a clear and truly feasible path to truly eliminate emissions: the use of nuclear propulsion. These are the two main themes highlighted by the President of Assarmatori, Stefano Messina, this morning during his speech at the Annual Meeting of the shipowners' association, held in Rome at the Grand Hotel Parco dei Principi. A speech that also touched on current geopolitical events, following the announced agreement between the United States and Iran: "Clearly positive news – said Messina in front of an audience of over 700 people, representing the maritime and port cluster, entrepreneurship, politics, and administration -. However, in recent months there have been several announcements of an end to the conflict or a truce, but unfortunately they have never been followed by facts. Maritime transport needs certainty to operate safely, which is why I believe that the ships still stuck in the Persian Gulf will try to leave as soon as possible, but a return to normalcy in the Strait of Hormuz will not be immediate; it will take several days to understand whether this time we can truly navigate again with the necessary guarantees, primarily for the protection of crews. While waiting to learn the details of the agreement, however, we reject any hypothesis of a toll to cross the Strait, which would be contrary to the principle of freedom of navigation." Then the attack: "Europe seems to live outside reality. It continues to tighten existing rules as if it were unaware of the geopolitical context and, on the contrary, is called to increase the competitiveness of European companies rather than sink them – continued Messina -. We are going out of the market; we cannot think of winning global competition if the EU remains stuck in a purely regulatory logic decided by technocrats. The damage caused to the automotive sector is evident; for maritime transport we demand a bold revision of the ETS system to protect the three most exposed segments: connections with the islands, which must be excluded from this regime, the Motorways of the Sea, and container transshipment. In this very difficult and fragmented international context, Italy and Europe stay afloat precisely thanks to shipping and its extraordinary ability to adapt to major upheavals in a short time and efficiently. We cannot allow this extraordinary economic lever to be undermined by absurd decisions made in Brussels without the slightest trace of democratic debate, and then in Rome the funds generated by this taxation are dispersed in a thousand streams, instead of being allocated precisely to maritime transport for investments related to decarbonization, as the Directive itself provides, and that geographical constraints for fleet renewal are decided, inspired by protectionism that is out of touch with reality, the market, and any commercial logic." Not only criticism from the stage of the Assarmatori Annual Meeting, but also concrete and current proposals, precisely at a historical moment when the Delegation Law to the Government on nuclear energy is being discussed in Parliament: "We must not let ourselves be conditioned by external factors – added Messina – and look at the facts. Numerous pilot projects related to the maritime sector centered on Generation IV nuclear power and so-called Small Modular Reactors demonstrate technical feasibility and benefits in terms of decarbonization. The use of nuclear reactors on board ships also presents undoubted advantages from a logistical point of view, as it eliminates the need for dedicated supply chains for different types of alternative fuels, which would need to be widely distributed across various countries to ensure fuel availability in the ships' operating areas." At the center of the shipowners' association's annual assembly was also the issue of labor, with a specific demand concerning Italian employment: "It is a fact that the cost of maritime labor represents one of the main expense items for shipping companies and significantly impacts the competitiveness of our companies – concluded the President of Assarmatori – For this reason, we demand, and not for the first time, the restoration of the contribution exemption for seafarers employed on short-sea routes, who are all Italian. And we are talking about services that in many cases constitute the only and indispensable means of mobility for island populations and for the territorial continuity of the country." The debate was also enlivened by speeches from the Minister of Business and Made in Italy Adolfo Urso, the Minister of Education and Merit Giuseppe Valditara, the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Edoardo Rixi, Admiral Giuseppe Berutti Bergotto, Chief of Staff of the Italian Navy, and video messages from Raffaele Fitto, Executive Vice President of the European Commission, and Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, Minister of the Environment and Energy Security. There was also room for a round table that featured shipowners Matteo Catani, CEO of GNV, Achille Onorato, CEO of Moby, Vincenzo Romeo, CEO of Nova Marine Carriers, and an interview with the President of Assoporti Roberto Petri. – Photo: Assarmatori press office – (ITALPRESS).
