What are the main concerns and the priorities for the maritime industry and for the Maltese maritime industry, in particular for the short-term?

In my view the following are the main priorities.

The first one in my list – an underlying theme year in and year out – is maritime education and training. This has already been amply covered in previous articles penned by the Malta Maritime Forum (MMF) members appearing in Times of Malta. I do not therefore need to dwell on it any further.

The second priority – which is also an underlying concern and which we are constantly addressing – is that of awareness raising about the sector and image building with a view to portraying a more positive picture of it. The MMF will spare no efforts to address this in the most comprehensive manner possible in the years ahead – and looks forward to the completion in the months ahead of the study commissioned by it on the contribution of the maritime industry to the Maltese economy.

These two priorities go hand in hand. After all, if there is a negative perception of the maritime industry, finding suitably qualified workers becomes more difficult.

A third priority regards the strengthening of the maritime infrastructure. With particular reference to Malta, the most immediate is Grand Harbour rehabilitation. On this subject, the MMF had the privilege of listening to Transport Malta chairman Joseph Bugeja and Perit Janice Borg of Infrastructure Malta at the MMF’s extraordinary general assembly held on November 14, 2019.

From what the Transport Malta chairman said, the audience learned that: ship shore electricity supply will be a reality; on infrastructural works the work on Grand Harbour breakwater, the new multipurpose ro-ro facility at Ras Ħanżir, the extension and build up of Pintos 4 and 5 to also incorporate the ship shore electricity supply and the improvement of the landing places for the ferry services will be carried out in the coming years. Moreover, the deep-water quay is nearing a final resolution. On technology, the single window will see the light of day in the short-term.

Perit Borg delved into the details of the infrastructural works to be carried out. On the dredging works, she said these  will be carried out at different depths depending on the place where dredging is done.

On the measures to improve wave conditions in Grand Harbour, the objective is to reduce the wave magnitude. For Ras Ħanżir, the plan is to reclaim a part of the sea so asto construct a new ro-ro berth with the possibility of a confined disposal facility.

Green finance may become normal finance in a couple of years’ time

As for the deep-water quay, the second phase will commence once the contract has been awarded while on Pintos 4 and 5 and Lascaris, the plan is to have a new straight quay throughout. On shore supply, the preliminary plan is to do it in two phases to cover all wharfs.

The fourth priority is the further promotion of the maritime industry within a Maltese context. In this regard I want to mention three matters of particular focus. The first is short sea shipping where the MMF shall strive to create awareness on the potential, importance and relevance of short sea transportation to satisfy business, customers and national needs. It shall also seek to identify barriers and make recommendations on how they can be removed while at the same time identifying initiatives that ensure the further development of short sea shipping activity. This has become even more relevant for the MMF now that the objectives of short sea shipping have become an integral part of its own objectives.

The second matter is working towards the creation of a convention on the international recognition of judicial sales within the auspices of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law. The Malta Maritime Law Association is working wholeheartedly towards the achievement of this objective. By virtue of her position of vice-president of the Comité Maritime International, Ann Fenech is leaving no stone unturned to bring this about and within the shortest time possible. Such a convention will be of distinct benefit to the maritime industry and the Maltese maritime industry in particular.

The third is the finalisation of the appropriate legislation needed to put in place a licencing requirement for ship agents.

Work on this has been ongoing over a number of years. It is now high time to have it in place. The MMF hopes it will finally see the light of day during the course of 2020.

Last, but certainly not least, I must underline as a priority the environmental realities connected with the maritime world that are gaining more and more in importance and relevance with every day that passes.

Environmental sustainability is not just a buzz term without any substance. It is key to the future development of shipping and of the maritime industry in general. The 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals which was adopted in 2015 is drawing closer and closer with every year that passes. Where are we? What do we have to do as a nation? What is expected of us as an industry?

I want to recall here in particular goal number 14 which concerns the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.

On another front I cannot stress enough the fact that the International Maritime Organisation last July decided to adopt the theme ‘Sustainable Shipping for a Sustainable Planet’ as the World Maritime Theme for 2020 and that last year the IMO set as a goal the cutting of carbon dioxide emissions by at least 50 per cent by 2050 and to pursue efforts to phase out carbon dioxide emissions entirely.

This is not a vague promise, rather, it is a very specific and concrete commitment to half carbon dioxide emissions caused by the shipping sector. Again, allow me to ask – what are we doing?

And what about the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) launched in 2005. So far shipping has been excluded. Will it remain excluded or will we be witnessing an extension of the system to shipping in the not too distant future? What position do we have on this? What can we do to mitigate its impact if and when it comes?

Finally, there is the problem being faced by the shipping sector when it comes to banking, because   shipping is increasingly being considered as not being within the risk appetite of banks.  This may become further complicated in the years ahead by the fact that green finance may become normal finance in a couple of years’ time, which means that if the maritime sector wants to keep access to finance, it needs to clean up even more its operations and be transparent on its carbon footprint and on the measures it is taking.

In the light of this, the question of alternative fuels for greener shipping, the provision of shore-side electricity supply for vessels and the consideration of offshore wind energy provision are just three of the matters that need to be addressed with particular reference to the maritime industry.

We cannot just sit back. As a country we must act and we must act now in order to achieve a sustainable environment for ourselves. This is in the interests of the environment, our own interests and the long-term interests of a sustainablemaritime sector.

Joe Borg is chairman of the Malta Maritime Forum.