Page 40 - ΝΑΥΤΙΚΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΚΑ - ΜΑΙΟΣ 2023

INTERNATIONAL FORA
seamanship is our history. This new era
has a new challenge, a new philosophy.
The one where "business" and "well-be-
ing" coexist. The one where the human
is in the epicenter. The one where the "I"
recedes and the "we" retakes its place.
Sustainable growth requires sustainable
people. So, let us put the parameter of
'well-being' at the heart of development
in this new era. The challenge, but also
the solution, is to protect human value
and coexistence. Our future, the future
of humanity, is humans themselves. The
future is us!"
During the Delphi Economic Forum
Fireside Chat session, the Vice
President of the Union of Greek
Shipowners, A. Lemos, stated,
among other things, the following:
“EU horizontal policies and regulations
often fails to take into consideration
the unique features of the shipping
industry and the socio-economic
impacts of said regulations. There are
shortcomings in the revised EU ETS
which includes shipping. It is vital to try
to shape the new regulations so that
they can achieve their goals, without
overly burdening EU citizens who are
ultimately the end-consumer.
Greek shipping is well-placed to
L-R: Despina Panayiotou Theodosiou, Philippos Philis, Dimitrios Fafalios,
Jan Dieleman.
40
respond and adapt to the new era as
it has done with all past regulatory
developments. It will continue its deep-
rooted commitment to the protection
of the environment.
Shipping brings untold benefits to the
world. The most important is its contri-
bution to global trade and by exten-
sion globalisation, which is one of the
great contributors to a more peaceful,
fraternal world, one in which disparate
societies can co-exist to each other’s
mutual benefit. This is because global
trade, 90% of which is transported by
sea, connects people, countries and
economies.
It is characteristic that, despite enor-
mous challenges, shipping was the
only industry that continued to function
throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, at
a great cost for the seafarers and their
families who are too often overlooked
by the international community.”
During the “Charting a Course
to a Sustainable & Efficient
Industry” session in which
he participated, Mr D. J.
Fafalios pointed out the fol-
lowing:
“The Greek shipping community is
committed to shipping’s decarbonisa-
tion and has always supported global
policies based on sustainable, viable
and workable solutions adopted at the
IMO. Global regulations are necessary
to avoid distortion of competition. The
shipping industry will fully embrace
new technologies as they became
mature but there must be also a bal-
ance between efficiency and decar-
bonisation.
Most importantly, it is vital that safety
is paramount as the guiding principle
in all environmental regulations. Alter-
native fuels and technologies must be
safe, cost-effective, fit-for-purpose and
available worldwide in sufficient quan-
tities. And these new tools must come
from out of the shipping sector stake-
holders, under whose remit their pro-
duction and supply falls. In any case,
there cannot be protection of the envi-
ronment without protection of safety at
sea, that is, safety of crews, safety of
vessels, safety of fuels.”