Grimaldi addresses EU Commission on Motorways of the Seas

While attending last TEN-T days held in Rotterdam on June 21 and 22, Emanuele Grimaldi, Italian shipowner and President of Confitarma, stated that, “the Motorway of the Seas need no state subsidy. A European Ecobonus should be granted to users, as previously done in Italy, in order to prevent unfair competition."

He also added that, “subsidies should be allocated those shipowners investing in green technology on existing ships (i.e. installation of scrubbers, re-blading or hulls repainting with anti-fouling paint, actions to reduce toxic gases)” and re-confirmed he is against LNG as marine fuel which, for the time being, isn't a good solution for financial, environmental and logistics reasons.

“It isn't cheaper than fuel oil, nor even less polluting, being a fossil fuel too. Moreover, LNG propulsion implies larger storage tanks whereas lowering loading capacity; moreover, bunkering stations, particularly in the Mediterranean, are still a problem."