Bunker levy ‘collusion’ warning

Two new, related studies published by the Seafarers International Research Centre (SIRC) at the UK’s Cardiff University find that the bunker and shipping industries have a “culture of compliance”. However introducing a carbon emission levy would be a complex task and could be undermined by evasion through collusion between suppliers and shipowners.

The SIRC report “Effectiveness of international regulation of pollution controls: the case of the governance of ship emissions” states: “There is currently a ‘culture of compliance’ in the industry, with the proportion of ship detentions as a percentage of Paris MoU inspections falling from 9% in 2001 to just 3% in 2010. But in this highly competitive industry, operator compliance depends crucially on the perception that one’s competitors are also compliant – the ‘level playing field’.”

The other report, “Issues in the enforcement of future international regulations on ships’ carbon emissions”, Highlights the complexities and uncertainties asociated with any plan to impose sort sort of carbon emissions tax on shipping. It warns that the biggest enforcement challenge to a global fuel levy is the scope for

 “collusion between bunkerers and ship operators or charterers to understate bunker sales in order to evade part, or all, of the levy due”.