Panos Laskaridis, CEO of Lavinia Corporation & Laskaridis Shipping Company Ltd, spoke about international developments and the challenges facing the shipping sector, during the Delphi Economic Forum X, which takes place from April 9 to April 12.
Commenting on international developments and the new tariff policy of US President Donald Trump, Laskaridis said that the situation remains fluid and is evolving in an unpredictable manner. However, he noted that he believes that the disruptions from Trump’s tariffs in the shipping sector will not be generalized. “There will be isolated disruptions in specific types of ships,” he estimated.
He stressed that he considers the US threat to impose fees on shipping to be a much greater threat than tariffs. The fees are expected to be announced at the end of April and will be implemented (after a 100-day consultation period) in November 2025. However, he singled out Greek shipping from this threat, as he believes that these fees can be transferred and become an obligation for charterers of Greek-owned ships.
On the issue of decarbonizing the shipping industry, he said that there are two fundamental questions that still remain unanswered: First, what fuel will replace oil and second, how easily it will be available in ports around the world. “These questions take years to answer,” he underlined.
