Greater China

Stop propping up yards, urges Sohmen-Pao

Singapore: Governments stepping in to ensure employment at shipyards remains is wrong and is causing havoc to shipping with severe overcapacity, Andreas Sohmen-Pao, ceo of BW Maritime, said at the Singapore Maritime Institute conference yesterday.

"Excess capacity obviously creates waste in material terms. It also takes pricing down to a level where it bears no relation to the economic cost of providing that service, let alone the environmental cost. There is ample evidence to show that people will not use a resource thoughtfully when it is provided for free," said Sohmen-Pao, in what was perceived as a veiled swipe at China’s shipbuilding scene.

The BW boss was also sceptical about the current craze for eco-ships, because "there have been few substantive changes".  [30/11/12]

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