Socio-economic impact of the EU shipping industry remains solid

The EU shipping industry directly employed 640,000 people and supported a € 57 billion contribution to GDP in 2015. Adding supply chain and worker spending multiplier impacts, the shipping industry’s total employment contribution rises to 2.1 million people and its total GDP contribution is estimated to have been € 140...

GHG emissions of shipping: ECSA deplores that port and cargo interests condone regional measures

ECSA regrets that European port and cargo interests have come out in favour of the European Parliament’s position to conditionally include shipping in the EU Emission Trading Scheme as of 2023 if the International Maritime Organisation does not have a comparable system operating by 2021. European port and freight forwarder...

Shipping does not belong in EU Emission Trading Scheme

Members of the European Parliament voted today in plenary on the Commission's proposal to revise the European Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) Directive. A majority of MEPs voted to include shipping in the scheme as of 2023, if there is no comparable system operating in the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in...

Support CETA to boost trade

The EU-Canada Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) should facilitate and boost trade between Canada and the EU, eliminating many trade barriers and offering access to new markets. Shipping takes care of around 80 percent of global trade. It hence stands to benefit from easier and more trade between the...

Five weeks to go until European Shipping Week

Exactly 32 days from now, policy-makers and shipping executives will meet in Brussels for the second edition of European Shipping Week.

The central event of the week is the Flagship Conference, which will be held Wednesday 1 March at the Steigenberger Wiltcher’s Hotel. The conference programme is now complete and...

Initial EU ship recycling list shows clear need for global mind-set

The European Commission recently published its first edition of the EU list of approved ship recycling facilities. At this stage, it only features yards situated in Europe and reaches under 30% of the EU’s own recycling capacity target. For ECSA, this demonstrates clearly that third country ship recycling yards should...

ECSA adopts position on European policy for the Arctic

European shipowners welcomed earlier this year the adoption of the integrated European Union policy for the Arctic region. “We believe that the three priority areas identified cover all topical Arctic matters. Climate change and environment, sustainable development and international cooperation all deserve equal attention”, said ECSA Secretary General Patrick Verhoeven...

Parliament ETS report undermines global work on CO2 emissions of shipping

The Environment Committee (ENVI) of the European Parliament adopted today its report on the revision of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). MEPs agreed on a compromise text for shipping, which puts pressure on the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to have a system comparable to ETS operating for global shipping...

Ports Regulation – a stepping stone for genuine motorways of the sea

The European Parliament adopted today a report on the Regulation establishing a framework for the organisation of port services and financial transparency of ports presented by the rapporteur MEP Knut Fleckenstein.

The proposal was originally put forward in 2013 but stalled due to the European Parliament elections in 2014 and...

ECSA's open letter to ICS on the IMO CO2 roadmap

The International Maritime Organisation reached a number of important decisions on ship emissions at its 70th MEPC meeting end of October. Most significantly, it agreed on a roadmap to develop a comprehensive strategy to curb CO2 emissions from international shipping.

This result is in no small part due to the...