Calls for reinvesting revenues generated from decarbonization measures back into green shipping technologies gained traction in Brussels, where President Charalambos Simantonis and representatives of the European Shortsea Network received a positive response from European decision-making centers during a policy workshop held on Tuesday, May 12, at the offices of Greece’s Permanent Representation to the European Union.

The vision for utilizing Shortsea Shipping was translated into strategies that fully reflect its importance and role not only within the intermodal transport chain — that is, the transportation of goods using two or more different means of transport — but also its contribution toward achieving the EU’s goals of safeguarding competitiveness, strengthening security and reinforcing the Single European Market amid geopolitical tensions and economic instability.

It appears that the European Union is moving cautiously but steadily toward the next phase: implementing these strategies while maintaining the prosperity of the sector as a guiding principle.

Greece’s Permanent Representative to the EU, Ioannis Vrailas, delivered the opening remarks, stating that Shortsea Shipping is part of the solution — not the problem — in Europe’s path toward the green transition.

He additionally called on EU member states to support the sector’s efforts.