Scrubbers: Shipowners urge for clarity and legal certainty at the eleventh hour

In a position paper published today, European shipowners ask EU Member States to adopt a clear, long-term and above all harmonised position on the issue of the discharges of washwater produced by open-loop scrubbers installed on ships.

The EU Sulphur Directive requires that, as of 1 January 2015, all ships...

Social partners break labour deadlock

Today, the social partners are pleased to announce that they have reached an Agreement on the issue of the exclusion of seafarers, in the form of a package deal covering all Directives, thanks to a constructive dialogue which helped bridge their differences. Although not binding, the ETF-ECSA initiative may be...

Croatia joins the ranks of the European Shipowners' Community

The Croatian Shipowners' Association 'Mare Nostrum' decided to join ECSA as full member. The association counts ten members, who deploy a fleet of 141 ships, representing a tonnage of 1.7 million GT and 2.8 million DWT. Croatian shipowners employ 3264 seafarers. The Croatian fleet consists mainly of dry bulk vessels...

Incoming Commissioner for Transport gives positive signals on shipping

Commissioner-Designate for Transport and Space Maroš Šefčovič was scrutinised yesterday by the European Parliament’s (EP) Transport and Tourism and Industry, Research and Energy Committees in the context of the EP hearings of the team of Commissioners fielded by President-Elect of the Commission Jean Claude Juncker.

In his opening statement, Mr...

The EU ports reform is losing its bearings

In March, MEP Knut Fleckenstein, the rapporteur on the European Commission’s proposal for a Regulation on Market access to port services and financial transparency of ports announced that the legislative procedure for this particular file would be suspended until the new European Parliament would be in place following the European...

European Shipping Week 2015 date is announced

The week of March 2-6, 2015 has been chosen as the date for the inaugural European Shipping Week when shipping industry leaders from Europe and around the world will descend on Brussels to meet and network with top legislators from the European Commission, European Parliament and the Council of Ministers...

Slovak candidate Šefčovič nominated as next Transport and Space Commissioner

At a press conference earlier today, European Commission President-Elect Jean Claude Juncker presented his team of Commissioners and unveiled his plans for several structural reforms.

Among the many changes introduced by Mr Juncker, and the one most relevant to the EU shipping industry, is the renaming of Directorate General (DG)...

Announcing the European Shipping Week 2015

Ship owners and shipping industry leaders have joined forces with global event organiser Shipping Innovation to launch the inaugural European Shipping Week (ESW) to be held in Brussels in the early part of 2015.

The week-long series of high level events will centre on a major conference and Gala Dinner...

ECSA looks forward to fruitful EU-US trade negotiations

EU and US negotiators are meeting this week in the context of the sixth Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations round. Negotiators from both sides are debating an ambitious agenda that should, in the event of an agreement, not only remove trade barriers in a wide range of economic...

Cutting red tape in shipping: a far cry from stated intentions

The European Commission recently released a report on the progress made towards simplifying administrative formalities for ships calling EU ports.

In 2009, the European Commission had produced a maritime strategy paper that included a new concept, the so-called “European Maritime Transport Space without Barriers”, which according to the Commission, would...