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 […]

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’ […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

EU to spearhead international efforts to fight Somali piracy

On the 1st of January the European Union assumed the chairmanship of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS), as part of  a one-year rotation system.