One of the key objectives of the Change Programme was to improve Stena Line’s performance by USD162 million to help put the company on a more secure financial footing post- directive implementation. The rolling programme has resulted in a number of steps being taken including the reduction from two vessels to one on the Trelleborg-Sassnitz route and the fact that Stena Line is now being forced to increase its prices to freight customers as a direct result of the change in legislation.
“From an economic perspective, this is one of the largest negative political decisions taken since tax-free shopping was discontinued. As a company we are very supportive of environmental improvement regulations as long as the changes are the same for everyone and are implemented at a rate which we and our customers can handle but unfortunately this is not the case with the new sulphur rules. Ultimately, the resultant increase in fuel costs negatively impacts on North European export and import trade because a significant proportion of these trades are facilitated by sea transport,” said Stena Line’s CEO Carl-Johan Hagman.
For Stena Line, the changes mean a direct increase in fuel costs of more than USD162,000 per day, or around USD66.4 million per year as a result of having to use the more expensive low sulphur fuel.
“If you look at the freight side of our business for example, we are going to have to increase prices by around 15%. As a business, we are committed to delivering the same quality and service and we will continue our efforts to offer environmentally effective transports. This means that unfortunately we are left with no alternative but to pass on the imposed increase in costs to our freight customers”, said Hagman.