SSG No 10 - Shipgaz

advocating the introduction of a tonnage
tax system.
“We want a strong Swedish shipping
industry and we will introduce a tonnage
tax during this period of office” (which in
Sweden is four years), said minister of
infrastructure Åsa Torstensson from the
new centre-right government at the
Swedish Shipowners’ Association’s AGM
earlier this year. This didn’t impress the
audience.
“It’s not enough, we are frustrated”, said
Lennart Simonsson”, CEO of the tanker
operator Broström. “The last 14 months,
Broström has entered eight newbuildings
into the Swedish ship registry. Until we get
a decision from the government, we will
instead invest in our activities abroad”.
Simonsson, who also chairs the European
Community Shipowners’ Associations
(Ecsa) has claimed that the understanding
of shipping is far better in other
EU states than in Sweden, that is almost
the only member state without a tonnage
tax scheme.
He also stressed that tonnage tax is
favoured by the European Commission as
a measure to strengthen the competitiveness
of member state merchant fleets.
“We have delivered”
Also Dan Sten Olsson, owner and CEO of
Stena and the current chairman of the
Swedish Shipowners’ Association expressed
his concern at the AGM. He asked the minister
to urge the government to take action.
“We have delivered”, said Olsson, pointing
at the renewal of the Swedish-flagged
fleet since the introduction of the net wage
system for seafarers, environmental initiatives
from the industry and the Lighthouse
venture, a maritime education, research
and development institution formed by
the Chalmers University of Technology
and the Göteborg University, in which the
ROLF P NILSSON
On the move. Swedish shipowners, led by Transatlantic’s Håkan Larsson and Stena’s Dan Sten
Olsson, heading for ECSA’s AGM, held in Stockholm 2006.
THE SWEDISH FLEET, JAN 1, 2007
(Above 300 GT)
Numbers MDWT
Swedish flag 222 2.45
Foreign flag* 380 10.07
Total 602 12.52
*including 4 MDWT on long-term
charter arrangements
AVERAGE AGE
Based on number Based on DWT
Swedish flag 16.00 12.00
Foreign flag 15.00 8.00
Source: The Institute of Shipping Analyses
Swedish Shipowners’ Association will
invest SEK 100 million (EUR 11 million)
the next ten years.
The new government has introduced a
number of major tax reforms, and comments
from the Minister of Finance, indicates
that tonnage tax is not a prioritised
issue. Sources also suggest that there is a
resistance against the tonnage tax at the
civil servant level within the ministry of
finance, with a fear of demands to spread
the system to other industry sectors being
ADVOKATFIRMAN
MORSSING & NYCANDER
Est. 1880
MARITIME LAW • LOGISTICS & MULTIMODAL • MARINE INSURANCE
ADMIRALTY & CASUALTY • PURCHASE & SALE • SHIP FINANCING
SHIPPING AND SHIP MANAGEMENT
Box 3299, 103 66, STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Tel: +46 8 58705100 (24-hour service), E-mail: info@mna.se, Fax: +46 8 58705120
www.morssingnycander.se
The Swedish fleet
Number of vessels, Jan 1, 2007
■ Swedish flag ■ Foreign flag
SCANDINAVIAN SHIPPING GAZETTE • MAY 21, 2007 75
220
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Bulker
Container
Dry cargo
Offshore
Passenger/ferry
Reefer
Tanker
Ro-ro
Misc
Source: The Institute of Shipping Analyses