Greek shipowners work with Japan, Liberia on new IMO bunker rules in International Shipping News 08/06/2026 The Union of Greek Shipowners has reached out to Liberia and Japan to work on alternative proposals to the International Maritime Organization’s Net-Zero Framework, the group said June 5, also calling on the EU to make firmer commitments in rolling back its regulations on maritime greenhouse gas emissions. After the UN agency’s member states voted to delay the framework’s adoption by a year in October 2025, Liberia and Japan have led proposals that would remove its mandatory GHG price mechanism in bids to seek consensus. Speaking at a press conference, officials from UGS, Greece’s largest shipowners’ organization, said they would work with the countries to refine the regulatory proposals as the IMO is scheduled to have further discussions on the Net-Zero Framework later this year. “Some parts of their proposals are positive, some parts are not feasible,” UGS President Melina Travlos. “We are in touch with them to hand over our own requests.” In its current form, the NEF is designed to place a cost on maritime greenhouse gas emissions from later this decade to prompt a switch to low-carbon bunker fuels. Environmentalist groups and many shipping professionals have said a robust pricing mechanism is essential for the marine energy transition. April’s delivered bunker price for 0.5%-sulfur fuel oil in Rotterdam was $17/Gigajoule, compared with $21/Gj for LNG and $35/Gj for bio-LNG, according to the Platts bunker cost calculator, which estimates bunker expenses based on Platts assessments. Platts is part of S&P Global Energy. The Greek shipholders group has criticized that the framework in its current form is inappropriate, arguing that the lack of sustainable marine fuels could mean the IMO would simply be taxing ship operators in the form of the GHG cost while subsidizing developing countries and small island states. Criticism against the EU The EU officially