The preliminary agreement between the US and Iran for the end of hostilities, with both parties claiming both the outcome of the conflict than of the understanding, does not seem to have at all disbanded the concerns of the maritime industry, and not only of this, due to the blockade of naval traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. The almost total naval detention is still in force and The US administration's announcements of an imminent restoration of transits are greeted with doubt by those responsible for the shipping. So also from the president of Assarmatori, Stefano Messina, who this morning, in the course of his report at the annual meeting of the shipowners' association held in Rome, The news of the agreement is described as "clearly positive" between the United States and Iran, specifying that "however, in these months of an interruption of the conflict or at least of a truce have been different and unfortunately the facts have never followed. Maritime transport - Messina highlighted - needs certainties to be able to operate safely, which is why I believe that the ships stranded in the Persian Gulf will try to get out of it as soon as possible, but a return to normality in the Strait of Hormuz will not be immediate, it will take several days to to understand if this time it will really be possible to return to navigation with the necessary guarantees, first and foremost to protect the crews".

"While waiting to know the details of the agreement, however - specified the president of Assarmatori - we shy away from any hypothesis of a toll to cross the Strait, made which would be contrary to the principle of freedom of navigation".

If perplexities remain about an imminent return to the normality of ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, Assarmatori has no doubts about the negative impact on the maritime industry of recent Union policies European Union, in particular those for the decarbonisation of the shipping with its inclusion in the European trading system EU ETS emission allowances. "Europe - Messina denounced - he seems to live outside of reality. It continues to tighten the rules in force as if it were unaware of the geopolitical context and not on the contrary, was called upon to increase competitiveness of European companies rather than burying them. We're going Out of the market, we cannot think of winning the competition if the EU remains firm and within an exclusively decided by technocrats".

"The damage generated to the automotive sector - continued the president of Assarmatori - are evident. For the Maritime transport We call for a bold overhaul of the system ETS to protect the three most exposed segments: connections with the islands, which must be excluded from this regime, the Motorways of the Sea and container transhipment. In this context international crisis so difficult and fragmented, Italy and Europe remain afloat thanks to shipping and its extraordinary ability to adapt to great upheavals in a short time and efficiently. We cannot allow this extraordinary economic lever is undermined by absurd decisions taken in Brussels without the slightest trace of a democratic confrontation and that then in Rome - Messina specified including political decisions in the recrimination - the funds generated by this taxation are dispersed in thousand rivulets, instead of being intended precisely for transport maritime for investments related to decarbonisation, such as provides for the same Directive, and geographical constraints are laid down for fleet renewal inspired by protectionism outside the reality, from the market and from any commercial logic".

Messina mentioned other avenues that political decision-makers to decarbonise the maritime industry, and in particular nuclear energy: "We must not make a mistake conditioned - he explained - by external factors - and look at the facts. A number of pilot projects related to the maritime sector, with the Generation IV nuclear power and the so-called Small Modular Reactors, demonstrate the technical feasibility and benefits in terms of decarbonization. The use of nuclear reactors on board of ships also has undoubted advantages from the point of view of logistical system, as it eliminates the need for Supply chains dedicated to the different types of fuels alternatives, which should be widely distributed in the various countries to ensure fuel availability in the operational areas of the ships".

The president of Assarmatori also focused on the the theme of work. "It's a fact - he underlined - that maritime labour costs are one of the main items of expenditure for shipowners and which has a significant impact on the competitiveness of our companies. For For this reason, we ask, and not now, for the restoration of the Tax relief for seafarers employed on short routes who are all Italians. And we are talking about services that many cases are the only and indispensable tool for mobility for island populations and territorial continuity of the country".