The Hellenic maritime industry too is angry due to Brussels’ wrong and distorted policy

The Hellenic maritime industry too is angry due to Brussels’ wrong and distorted policy

SHIP2SHORE — 2026-06-11

Maritime and Ports

Being considered by her collaborators the true heart of the group, a real driving force towards the company’s development, Neptune Lines’ President Melina Travlos is defined as a true business visionary.

After having served for 15 years as a Board Member first, then as Secretary, of UGS Union of Greek Shipowners, in February 2022 she was elected unanimously as the new President; three years later she gained a second 3-year term.

For sure the blonde top manager is renowned also for being straight in her judgements, certainly diplomatic although not ambiguous; UGS’ President showed such consistency once again at the anticipated and packed press conference held to conclude the vibrant 2026 edition of Posidonia exhibition, at the Metropolitan Expo, where about one hundred of Greek and international media attended in order to listen delegates of the  Board, to address the most pressing issues facing global shipping nowadays.

The panel was honest also to reply with facts and figures some of the most intriguing questions.

It was so especially when Ship2Shore – the only Italian newspaper invited to the event - raised the ‘hot’ issue of the path towards decarbonisation, a ‘grey’ situation that is causing a lot of concern in Italy because of the additional cost weighing initially on shipowners’, but probably in the end going to touch the wallet of the common people as users of the products that ships carry aboard.

“I believe that everybody is against regional measures, and this measure actually targets only the whole European shipping industry. In fact, what the ETS Emission Trading System is doing is just to harm the competitiveness of the EU maritime sector.

As UGS what we have been saying ever since is that we want a global mechanism, valid all over the world, but not a regional one.

The problem is that the EU Commission has not clearly stated that when we have a global measure in place, ETS as a regional measure will be withdrawn”.

At a request of further explanation by Ship2Shore whether such a Hellenic position is shared by other countries within the EU, or in case there is a distinction between the Southern Mediterranean maritime industry and the Northern one, Travlos clarified.

“There is no distinction between South and North on such issue; maybe there is on other topics…

Also, the ECSA European Community Shipowners Association where we are members, as it is Confitarma too, and we share exactly the same view”.

In essence, UGS’s leader accused unattainable targets set by the European Union which distort the IMO International Maritime Organization’s objectives set by the NZF Net Zero Framework 2050 agenda, which appears to be unrealistic.

“NFZ is moving in the wrong direction and might turn IMO into a revenue-collection mechanism; nobody understands where all this money collected will be directed too. While discussing this issue, IMO’s Secretary General Arsenio Dominguez stated that funds would be allocated to poorer African countries and island states; i do not understand what shipping has to do with it” she argued, and lately noted that Greece abstained from the October 2025 vote on the relevant regulation to adjourn the extraordinary MEPC session until 2026, while other EU member states voted to continue negotiations.

The cruciality of ETS is such that also two more members of UGS panel wanted to say their view.

An heir to the much famous eponymous family – the founder of whose business was Antonios G. Lemos in 1902 – Andonis Lemos, a Barrister qualified at Oxford who joined the family’s shipping group of businesses broadly referred to as the ENESEL Group, UGS member since 2012 and Vice President since 2022, noted the real very bad thing. “Although ETS directly seems to impact directly onto shipowners and charterers, finally this is a tax against European consumers; that price must and will ultimately pass down to citizens as consumers, making the ETS an indirect cost for households and businesses across Europe. So, it is a hidden tax; when the European politicians compare the cost of living, they should also be concerned about the final effect of their action against people. Unfortunately, that is something that is not addressed at all in Brussels” he said.

Very experienced shipowner John Lyras, a principal of Paralos Maritime Corporation who has been involved in shipping since 1975, made also a strong point on Lemos’ last sentence.

“The average European citizen does not realise this; they have not realised yet that for many many years big industries were getting free allowances, and these will not be paying anything with regard to ETS.

As Greek shipowners we are very disappointed that the EU Commission has not explained to their constituencies what it is really about” stated Lyras, coming from a Greek seafaring family with a tradition in shipping that goes back four generations, who served as President of UGS (having been into the Board since 1979, was also President of ECSA, Board Member of International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) since 1985.

“The other point is that it was said that revenues coming from this taxation would finally return to back the shipping industry along its path towards decarbonisation: but this has not happened at all!

Money have just gone the countries as a ‘gift’ and each Government is using it as they want for whichever utilisation irrespective of its original connection with the maritime sector” he blamed.

Greek shipping still moving the world, leading fleet renewal, despite environmental constraints, international sanctions, lacked freedom of navigation, geopolitical shocks, social contributions

Being the head of a national movement still leading the world’s pack, Travlos fielded several kind of questions affecting shipping: environmental constraints, international sanctions, freedom of navigation, geopolitical shocks, social contribution, just to mention a few more urging.

Travlos first highlighted the Hellenic sector’s continued investment in modernization, stating that Greek shipping is leading fleet renewal, being at the forefront in terms of environmental footprint.

“We remain firmly committed to the maritime sector, which we experience and serve on a daily basis. We remain strong, as we always have

Despite the unprecedented scale of Greek shipowners’ newbuilding programme both in terms of volume and sustainable vessel design, the competitiveness of European shipping remains a pressing concern. Our sector currently is under significant pressure from competition originating in Asia, largely driven by state subsidies, which European shipping does not benefit from”.

On the delicate ‘shadow fleet’ issue she challenged what described as the unfair targeting of Greek shipping, arguing that sanctions without global reach inevitably distort competition.

“We need to make it clear that it is not only Greek-owned ships that have ended up in the dark fleet, but vessels from many other countries as well. Of course our owned tonnage dominates the global tanker fleet; however, when those ships are sold and subsequently end up in this dark fleet, it is something that obvioulsy we cannot control.

Indeed this is not a shipping problem but rather a threat to the industry; whenever there are partial measures instead of universal ones dark fleets are created. Our industry must coordinate a response and determine how to deal with this phenomenon. As long as sanctions are not applied globally, distortions in competition will continue to grow”.

UGS’ number one warned of growing threats to freedom of navigation also describing the instrumentalization of vessels in conflict zones as an existential challenge for the industry.

Reiterating a position previously raised before the United Nations Security Council, she stressed that safeguarding freedom of navigation remains critical for global trade and maritime security.

“Owners should not be involved in Hormuz toll discussions. We are asking for freedom of navigation which is of paramount importance; ships have been targeted and weaponised, but international laws and treaties should be respected”

Shipping remains the only industry in Greece to deliver social impact through collective initiatives at an institutional level. “Education and support for young people have always been at the heart of the UGS’s work and announced the most extensive ever scholarship program to date aimed to grant 365 scholarships in 2026, an initiative reflecting UGS’ strong commitment to empowering the next generation and investing in the future of Greece’s main driver of the national economy. Whenever extraordinary circumstances arise, we stand alongside the state and support our fellow citizens."