The plan aims to set a mandatory global fuel standard for the maritime sector and introduce a worldwide emissions pricing mechanism, measures that could reshape the industry for decades to come.
But resistance is mounting. Sixteen of the world’s largest shipping companies — including several with Greek interests — have issued a joint statement expressing serious concerns about the framework in its current form. Representing more than 1,200 vessels with a combined carrying capacity of 150 million DWT, the companies argue that fundamental revisions are needed before the NZF can be formally adopted. Their intervention, they say, is designed to ensure that the industry’s concerns are not ignored by regulators.
While the companies acknowledge the need for a global regulatory framework, they argue that the NZF suffers from critical shortcomings. Chief among them is the lack of a comprehensive impact assessment and the absence of transitional checkpoints for the availability of new fuels. Such safeguards were built into earlier regulations — notably IMO 2020 — but are missing from the current proposal.
“In its present form, we believe the NZF will neither contribute effectively to the decarbonization of shipping, as envisaged by the IMO’s 2023 strategy, nor guarantee a level playing field for competition,” the statement says. The companies warn that the framework’s proposed limits on fuel intensity are both abrupt and premature, effectively imposing standards similar to the European Union’s FuelEU rules a decade earlier than necessary. Given the enormous time and investment required to adapt global infrastructure, upgrade supply chains, and design, test, and deliver new vessels, they argue the targets are unworkable.
The shipping groups also caution that the lack of a realistic transition period reduces incentives to invest in currently available solutions, such as biofuels and liquefied natural gas, that could provide near-term emission cuts. Instead, they say, the framework focuses heavily on unproven zero- or near-zero-emission technologies, which risks pushing much of the industry toward a “pay-to-pollute” model rather than real decarbonization.
Fuel supply is another major concern. Today, shipping consumes around 3 percent of the world’s energy, largely in the form of widely available fuels. Under the NZF, however, the sector alone would require more than 50 million tonnes per year of low-carbon hydrogen by 2040 — roughly half of the world’s anticipated production capacity for all industries combined.
The financial implications are equally stark. Analysts project that the framework could generate between $20 billion and $30 billion annually by 2030, and potentially exceed $300 billion by 2035 if the global fleet were to miss its targets by as little as 10 percent.
The companies stress that they are not opposed to regulation but insist that the IMO must revisit its current blueprint. Without significant adjustments, they argue, the NZF risks undermining both the industry’s decarbonization efforts and its economic competitiveness.
