Low sulphur norms: action needed at the eleventh hour

Priorities must be set to smoothen the introduction of low sulphur norms in Northern Europe: establishing a fair level playing field is one of them. With the 1 January 2015 deadline elapsing in Sulphur Emission Control Areas (SECA) in less than ten months from now, there is no time to lose...

EU Maritime security: a coming-of-age story

In the recent years, the EU has incrementally increased its efforts to stem piracy, a phenomenon that has plagued the shipping industry for the better part of the last decade. The wide array of tools at the EU’s disposal (military deployment, development and humanitarian aid, trade agreements, capacity building assistance...

West African piracy should be nipped in the bud

“Ideally, events such as this one should not be necessary” said MEP Anna Rosbach, host  of a maritime piracy photography exhibition organized in the European Parliament by ECSA and the Danish Shipowners’ Association. The exhibition will be on display this whole week in the European Parliament, where the ECSA Piracy...

Former ECSA President Hans Jakob 'Jack' Kruse passed away

Hans Jakob Kruse, one of the icons of the container shipping industry, passed away earlier this week at the age of 84. Mr Kruse, popularly known in the sector as 'Jack', began his career with Hapag Lloyd in 1964. In 1973 he became Chairman of the Board of Germany's largest...

Arctic shipping: future prospects depend on regulation and economics

The ambition to develop an Arctic 'silk route' to connect European or North American ports with Asia is by no means a novelty. Changing climate conditions have reduced the number of months in a year during which the Arctic is covered by stable ice and have thus revived the centuries-old...

Shipowners look to IMO for next steps on CO2 file

Members of the European Parliament’s Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) Committee agreed yesterday on a compromise position on the monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of CO2 emissions from maritime transport, which lays the foundation for a global measure to reduce CO2 emissions from international shipping.

Shipping being a truly...

Increasing the attractiveness of maritime careers in Europe

In the last decade the shipping industry has on several occasions warned against an impending shortage of qualified labour on board EU-flagged ships. The relative attractiveness of the seafaring profession has steadily decreased over the years, partly due to the specificities of the profession itself (such as long periods of...

Bullying & harassment: the journey is not yet over

Far from being specific to the shipping sector, bullying and harassment are phenomena, the consequences of which can be exacerbated due to the very nature of the seafaring profession. Indeed, shipping is one of the very few sectors where the workplace coincides and overlaps with the private sphere.

To eradicate...

EU sanctions on Iran partially suspended

EU Member States have decided to suspend for at least six months a number of EU sanctions applicable to Iran following an international agreement with Tehran on its nuclear programme, reached on 10 January. In 2012 EU Member States had enforced an oil embargo and restrictive financial boycotts due to the country’s...

Major reshuffle in EU co-funding programmes

The EU until recently supported the integration of transport networks in what is called the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) through specialized TEN-T funding awarded for specific national or cross-border projects, including Motorways of the Sea projects. The Marco Polo programme was the second leg of the EU’s co-funding mechanism with...