GWU concerned EU emissions scheme will push shipping away from Malta’s transhipment hub

The GWU’s maritime and aviation sector on Friday expressed concern over the adverse effects that the Emissions Trading System (ETS) will have on maritime transport in EU ports, including Malta’s.

The ETS, part of Europe’s Fit for 55 package of laws to achieve climate neutrality, will levy a cost on the maritime industry to offset their carbon emissions, each time they sail into an EU port or from one EU port to the other.

Europe has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by a minimum of 55% compared to 1990 levels by 2030, and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

The GWU said it fears that the ETS will force merchant ships to look for alternative ports to European ones, to carry out the same trade they are already carrying out in Europe, especially in Malta.

The Malta Freeport Terminal is a transhipment hub, which is heavily dependent on cargo and container shipping carried on large “mother ships” that sail distant Eastern or Western countries, unload their merchandise in Malta, where the goods are then transported onto smaller, feeder vessels to other nearby countries.

This system saves costs for very large ships from having to carry out multiple voyages or calling at other ports, in itself a way of reducing emissions by using less fuel when these large ships arrive at one transhipment hub.

“These are widely used logistics, globally, and serve as a benefit not just for the environment but also for the shipping world to be as efficient as possible,” the GWU said.

“If shippers start using alternative ports to Malta, this will not be reducing carbon emissions, but indeed increasing them by shifting these ships to third countries. To reduce pollution globally, the incentive should be aimed at reducing voyages or delays in ports. And Malta’s hub is a popular one that helps reduce distances and improve productivity and efficiency in transport times.”

The GWU’s maritime and aviation section will keep itself updated on developments on the ETS. “Together with the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), we hope that our country’s interests are protected, and that the negative effects on workers who depend on the transhipment industry are taken into account, through alternative proposals in the fight against climate change.”

The GWU’s secretary-general Josef Bugeja also raised the matter in a special MCESD meeting with a delegation from the European Commission, where he called to attention the effects that the ETS could have not just on Malta’s Freeport but also on the country’s manufacturing sectors.