IT SEEMS that 2009 is not going to be easy. Once you have secured your non-existent credit, side-stepped the default domino game and negotiated your exposure to the plummeting freight rates, you have some really tough decisions to make.
Like it or not the environmental question has not disappeared just because profits have dried up.
When politicians talk of a cost-effective solution to the problems of global warming, it is unlikely many have the specifics of the Baltic Dry Index in mind as one of the key deliverables. Nevertheless, that is the goal and the shipping industry has just moved centre stage in the epic UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol.
When International Maritime Organization secretary-general Efthimios Mitropoulos addressed UN dignitaries and ministers in Tokyo last week, he was candid enough to admit that the question of mandatory CO2 emission cuts for shipping is not just a technical or economic problem — it is politically highly sensitive. But tough decisions need to be made and they need to be made now.
Mr Mitropoulos is confident that the IMO can pull out of its hat a solution that is “pragmatic, realistic, workable and costs-effective” and most importantly international.
It will require some fancy diplomatic footwork from him to pull that off but more fundamentally it will require some tough decisions from member states and the industry itself.
Rest assured, this is not a polite request from the international community for shipping’s input. Either we make decisions now through the IMO, or they will be made for us elsewhere.
