ECSA welcomes Member States' approval to further enhance the status of Regular Shipping Service

ECSA has been advised of and very much welcomes the fact that EU Member States have recently endorsed the Commission's proposal to grant further customs facilitations to shipping companies operating ships with the status of Regular Shipping Service. This decision was made in the context of the Blue Belt discussions, which...

ICAO agrees on global-market based mechanism to tackle emissions

On 04 October, Member States of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) agreed, at its 38th Assembly in Montreal, to develop a global market-based measure (MBM) for international aviation. 

ICAO’s States agreed to report back in 2016 with a proposal for a global MBM scheme capable of being implemented by...

EMSA October 2013 Newsletter

The EMSA October 2013 Newsletter is available here

ECSA welcomes the continuation of State Aid Guidelines to Maritime Transport.

Commission Vice-President Joaquín Almunia, responsible for competition policy, recently decided to continue the 2004 Guidelines on State Aid to Maritime Transport without revision.

ECSA President Juan Riva welcomed Commissioner Almunia's decision: "ECSA commends the Commission for pursuing a professional review and consultation process, which clearly demonstrated that the guidelines...

European Commission sets up dedicated forum to tackle upcoming sulphur requirements

On 25 September, the European Commission announced the creation of the European Sustainable Shipping Forum (ESSF) to assess the developments towards compliance with the IMO 0.1% sulphur content in marine fuel, which are due to enter into force as from 1st January  2015 in the SECAs (Sulphur Emission Control Areas)...

IMO moves to make container weighing mandatory

On 20th September, the IMO backed a compromise proposal for verifying the weight of containers before they are loaded on board ships. The amendment to existing regulation that was adopted will effectively make it mandatory for containers to be weighed so as to lessen the risk that unweighed and misdeclared...

EP Rapporteur on alternative fuels calls for sufficient number of LNG bunkering stations across Europe

On 16th September, Carlo Fidanza (EPP, Italy), the rapporteur on the proposal for a directive on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure, which was adopted by the Commission in January 2013, presented his first draft to the parliamentary committee on transport (TRAN). The intention of the Commission is to target...

NAIADES II Package adopted by European Commission

The European Commission adopted on 10 September 2013 the NAIADES II package entitled “Towards quality Inland Waterway transport”. The main rationale behind this new package is the promotion of inland navigation, building on the achievements of the first NAIADES programme, with a view to fully exploiting the unused potential of...

A memorable farewell party for ECSA’s former Secretary General Alfons Guinier

The wider Brussels community gathered on 12 September 2013 to bid farewell to Alfons Guinier, who retired as Secretary General of the ECSA on 1 September, after having served the organisation for more than 22 years. Representatives of EU institutions, other transport-related organisations, national shipowners associations, members of the press...

SHIPPING INDUSTRY NEEDS TO COUNTER ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES

Shipping is increasingly pushed into the defensive corner when considering environmental challenges. Industry should urgently devise a strategy to overcome this unfortunate situation, advocating the positive efforts shipowners are making to raise the sustainability of their operations. This is the key message ECSA President Juan Riva gave today when introducing...