By Paris Tsirigotis

The global shipping industry is closely monitoring developments after US President Donald Trump announced heavy tariffs on imports of products from dozens of countries worldwide. These tariffs are expected to strongly affect shipping markets, at least in the short term.

“The market is in shock,” a senior executive of a Greek shipping company told Naftemporiki. “Everyone is now awaiting the outcome of the negotiations underway between all parties.”

If the negotiations fail and the rest of the world takes countermeasures, the situation will worsen.

Outlook: Shipping sector anticipates recovery in the long term

Nevertheless, Greek shipowners believe the sector can be strengthened in the long term.

According to Dr. Ioannis Coustas, head of Danaos Corp, in TradeWinds, a mild demand in shipping is expected in 2025.

“Supply chains, which have been optimized through many years of free trade policies, are extremely difficult to readjust in a short period of time and subsequently at significant cost. The readjustment of trade flows that will inevitably follow the imposition of tariffs will create inefficiencies, which is always beneficial for shipping,” Coustas said.

On his part, Haris Vafias, who owns US-listed StealthGas, C3is and Imperial Petroleum, as well as Private Stealth Tankers and Brave Maritime, stated: “Initially, there is a shock and a freeze in trade as people wait to see what will happen and whether the tariffs will increase or whether Trump is using them as a negotiating tactic.”

Stamatis Tsantanis, head of Seanergy Maritime Holdings and United Maritime, noted that while protectionist measures may disrupt traditional flows, the core commodities carried by the dry bulk the dry bulk sector is unlikely to be affected in the near term.

“In fact, trade rerouting and supply chain shifts, such as increased exports from Canada, Brazil or Australia to Asia and Europe, may increase demand in tonne-kilometres, particularly for capesize vessels,” he said.

However, there are also shipping executives who are not optimistic. And the reason is not just the Trump administration’s tariffs, but a combination of measures that reinforce protectionism.

As they pointed out in Naftemporiki, such measures are, for example, regional policies for the green transition, such as the EU ETS and Fuel EU, which the European Union has advanced.

Union of Greek Shipowners sets priorities on green transition medium-term measures

The Union of Greek Shipowners sets two main priorities regarding the medium-term measures for the green transition of shipping, which are expected to be agreed upon by the International Maritime Organization.

The central point of the positions developed by the Union of Greek Shipowners, the largest national shipowners’ association in the world, is that these measures should not undermine tramp shipping, as well as those who were the first to move and invest in green technologies.

The president of the Union, Melina Travlou, proposed to add the “liability” of the charterer in the text. That means allowing shipping companies to recover the cost of compliance from the commercial operator.

According to information, the European Union has also adopted a position in its regulatory framework. In particular, the EU regulations provide that shipping companies are entitled to reimbursement of compliance costs when the purchase of fuel or the operation of the ship is undertaken by the charterer, as is usually the case in time charters, for tramp shipping.

Tramp shipping constitutes the backbone of global shipping. The European Commission is also an “ally” of the position expressed by the Union of Greek Shipowners.

“A global solution for medium-term measures must be both sustainable and realistic,” said Melina Travlou, president of the Union of Greek Shipowners, to Lloyd’s List.

Another contentious issue will be the treatment of liquefied natural gas as a marine fuel.

The Union considers liquefied natural gas “the most sustainable” transitional fuel for reducing emissions on the path to net zero.