New Chairman at PSA
Contributors are not employed, compensated or governed by TD, opinions and statements are from the contributor directly
Simon Johnson, passenger services director at P&O Ferries became the 19th chairman of the Passenger Shipping Association (PSA) last week.
Johnson takes over from Cunard’s president Peter Shanks at a time of unprecedented growth for the industry. More than 39 million ferry passengers are expected to travel to and from UK ports and a record 1.7 million British cruisers were carried in 2011. Both the ferry and cruise industries are working together to meet economic and legislative challenges.
“Both the ferry and cruise industries are very important to the UK economy,” said Johnson. “We work well together to ensure best practise and both sectors have invested heavily in ships and services, but are faced with major challenges ahead”.
One of the new challenges according to Johnson are the sulphur regulations that come in force in 2015 that have the potential to increase fuel costs by almost 90% for ships that operate within the Emission Control Area (ECA). The ferry industry could see closures of longer routes and the cruise industry may see itineraries curtailed impacting on both revenue and port visits.
“Together with our partners, I can confirm that the PSA will continue to seek government support in finding measures to alleviate the substantial financial effects for passenger services that are confined to operating within an ECA,” added Johnson.
Christopher Mathieu, group strategy and commercial director for Brittany Ferries, has become chairman of the PSA’s Ferry Section. Peter Shanks takes on the role of vice chairman.