In an article detailing its research, Freightlink highlighted the remarks of one survey participant, who said “price is king”.
As Freightlink covered in its piece, the survey comes ahead of the 2024 implementation of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) for shipping. Freightlink points out that due to the ETS ‘carbon tax’, ferry operators will need to put their efforts towards more creative solutions that go beyond alternative fuel sources.
A number of these companies have already taken efforts to cut their emissions via alternative fuel or new vessels. Stena Line, Polferries, P&O and Irish Ferries have all been credited by Freightlink for taking such steps.
However, the most interesting part of the Freighlink research concerns the attitude within the road transport industry towards sustainable ferry crossings.
While 66% of the companies surveyed told Freighlink that the environmental impact of a ferry operator would impact their purchasing decision, 1 in 5 of those went on to add that the ferry operator’s environmental impact would only affect their purchasing decision if there wasn’t a significant price difference.
Once you take onboard the 33% who said the environmental impact would not influence their decision to book with a particular ferry operator, the number of road transport firms willing to pay for more sustainable crossings appears low.
Freightlink also notes that when it comes to attitudes, was “no discernable difference in attitudes to the future of freight between GB and EU countries”.
“This shows that while the industry is generally looking forward to a ‘greener’ future, the number one consideration when arranging ferry or tunnel transport for their goods is price,” says Freightlink.
Freightlink added:
“As shown in our survey results, businesses in the freight industry are looking forward to a greener future with greener ferries. However, price, as one participant remarked, “is king”, and will remain the number one consideration moving forward. Sustainable innovations made moving forward must also prioritise profits in order to protect the freight industry in the future.”
Photo: Ulflarsen, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
