European shipowners call upon authorities to disembark the migrants on board the Alexander Maersk as soon as possible

ECSA, the European Community shipowners’ associations, expressed on the 12th of June its concern about the problems the Aquarius vessel faced to disembark migrants in Malta and Italy and warned that also merchant vessels could be faced with this situation. The current situation with the Alexander Maersk shows that this...

Shipping associations vow to support seafarers’ mental health needs

Monday 25th June marks the IMO Day of the Seafarer, which this year has a particular focus on seafarer well-being.

In response, members of the European Community Shipowners’ Associations; UK Chamber of Shipping and the Royal Dutch Shipowners Association have each launched webpages signposting seafarers to mental health charities, chaplain...

European Shipowners encourage the European Commission to have sufficient recycling capacity on the EU approved ship recycling yards list

All vessels sailing under an EU flag will eventually be required to use an approved ship recycling facility, once the EU Ship Recycling Regulation effectively applies. This will be on 31 December 2018.

The current edition of the EU list of approved ship recycling facilities only features yards situated in...

European shipowners: Italian policy of refusing migrants to enter its ports alarming

ECSA finds it very alarming that Italy recently refused a humanitarian ship to disembark rescued persons in Italian ports. The passengers included children, pregnant women and persons needing medical assistance. It should have been ensured that these people received the care they needed as soon as possible.

“We realise that...

European shipowners deeply concerned about looming prospect of global trade war

European shipowners, represented by the European Community Shipowners’ Associations ECSA, express their deepest concerns about recent developments on global bilateral trade relations. The result of the G7 meeting last weekend offered no improvement, on the contrary.

European shipowners recall that open trade relations based on transparent rules and procedures are...

European and International Social Partners in the Maritime Sector call for specific procedures for seafarers to obtain Schengen visas

The European and International Social Partners in the Maritime Sector; the European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA), the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) support the ongoing efforts to facilitate seafarers’ travel to and from the EU through amendments...

Shipping Sector’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Strategy Discussed

The European shipowners together with MEP Wim van de Camp yesterday organised a seminar in the European Parliament to discuss the International Maritime Organization (IMO) initial Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions reduction strategy for shipping. The initial strategy was adopted in the 72nd session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC)...

European shipowners support the proposal for better waste handling Port Reception Facilities

The recently published proposal for a new Directive on Port Reception Facilities is welcomed by ECSA, as it addresses major issues with the current system in place. The new proposal will help in ensuring there are adequate port reception facilities available, require an advance waste notification from ships as well...

EU budget proposal could support shipowners’ transition to decarbonisation

The European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA) is positive towards the proposal for the EU budget 2021 – 2027 published earlier this week. Specifically the large increase of the EU budget for Research, Innovation and Digital and for Climate and Environment could provide resources to support the European shipping industry in...

European shipowners welcome the proposed EU trade agreements with Japan and Singapore

The European Commission today presented trade agreements with Japan and Singapore to the Council to eventually be adopted. The European shipowners are very pleased that the first step towards the conclusion of these agreements has been taken. “With Japan and Singapore agreements Europe sends a strong message to the world...