Legislation is needed to reduce emissions within the shipping sector; however, the regulation of emissions will likely translate to much higher costs of moving people, resources, and goods. Seabury Maritime’s Vice president, Nikos Petrakakos, has confirmed that IMO 2020 “is one of the most significant regulations impacting liner shipping in recent memory.”The Caribbean Shipping Association predicts that IMO 2020 will pre-emptively increase operating costs by around 3 percent in 2019. Given that fuel costs already represent more than 50 percent of operating expenses, the impact will be huge. Once the new law goes into effect, higher fuel costs are expected to increase costs associated with port-to-port shipments by 20 percent in developed markets (ET2C). The manufacturers indicated that freight costs in North America were at near 20-year highs at the time.

Source: Forbes May 22, 2019 19:44 UTC