Messina: the sector cannot be expected to absorb the impact of the fuel increase on its own
In view of the expected conversion into law by next
26 May of Tax Decree 38/2026 which includes the decree-law
42/2026, the so-called Carburanti-bis, Assarmatori denounced that
the latter measure, which provides for the cut of excise duties on
petrol, diesel, LPG and natural gas for transport, “arrives
final approval with the same criticality as the first
edition of the text: no intervention – he underlined
The Shipowners’ Association – for maritime transport, own
while shipping companies incur significant extra costs
related to the increase in fuel prices and continue to ensure the
essential connections with the major and minor islands”.
Assarmatori stressed that this decision “penalizes a
strategic sector for the country and unloads on the companies that
ensure connections with the islands a burden that should be
addressed with adequate public instruments”.
“Maritime transport – he highlighted again
The Association – is not an ancillary service. È
the infrastructure that guarantees territorial continuity,
mobility of citizens, the supply of goods and
the resilience of the tourist economy of entire regions. Exclude it from the
Fuel-bis decree-law means ignoring reality and
forget the needs of the island communities”.
“This exclusion – said the president of
Assarmatori, Stefano Messina – is incomprehensible. The
Companies are not speculating: they are incurring costs
to continue to ensure regular connections,
frequent and competitively priced, because the ship remains the
cheapest means of transport to reach the islands. But
We cannot expect the sector to absorb on its own
the impact of the increase in fuel, while other sectors are being
supported with public resources”.
If for Messina the government’s decision is inexplicable,
However, the hypothesis that the executive
much more a strike than a lockout implemented by the
shipping companies, moreover by those that carry out
public services, such as those connecting with the islands that are
characterized by the obligation to ensure continuity
territorial.
According to Assarmatori, the paradox of the decision “is
even more serious in the light of the ETS’, the
EU emissions trading which from 1 January 2024 is
also applied to the maritime sector. “The companies of
navigation, in fact – observed the association – contribute
with significant resources to a system born wrong for
accompany the ecological transition, at a disproportionate cost
for the sector and its competitiveness. And yet, precisely those
resources, also generated by shipowners, are taken and
used to finance fuel measures from which the
maritime transport remains excluded”. “It is – he
Messina detected – an obvious short circuit. The maritime sector
guarantees an essential service, supports the regularity of
and the economy of the islands, pays the ETS and then is
excluded when distributing the interventions”. Assowners
He reiterated that in his opinion the solution is another: “A
targeted tax credit, parameterized to at least part of the extra
documented cost for fuel, for companies engaged in
essential maritime connections”. “We are not asking for
preferential treatment. We ask – Messina explained – for consistency and
respect for a sector that every day keeps the islands connected to the
rest of the country. We hope that the government and parliament
therefore demonstrate adequate sensitivity and do not leave
shipping companies alone to face the extra costs”.
