European Tug Owners meet in Finland

The association now has a membership of 82 towage companies in 21 European countries.

The Annual General Meeting re-elected Mr Richard Knight from the JP Knight Group in the UK to chair the Association for a further term of one year. That arrangement will permit him to prepare for the 50th anniversary of the ETA in 2013. The event will be held in Opatija, Croatia, hosted by Jadranski Pomorski Servis. Mr Torsten Holst Pedersen from Svitzer Scandinavia will again serve as the deputy chairman for the forthcoming working year.

High on the agenda of the Executive Committee Meeting and also the Annual General Meeting were the operating and environmental challenges currently faced by the industry, in particular the ongoing Ports’ Policy review by the European Commission and the responses by the towage industry to climate change.

During the wellattended conference, Markku Mylly, CEO of the Finnish Ports Association, most recently nominated as director of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), made a presentation on ‘Finnish Port Developments and Sea Traffic scenarios in the Baltic Sea’. He emphasized the significance of the ongoing port policies in Russia, such as the project of Ust Luga and the influence on Finnish port operations of environmental challenges and of the ice coverage in the waters in the area.

Theresa Crossley, head of the EMSA Implementation Department, illustrated the efforts of the Agency to introduce appropriate regulations in the reduction of air emissions from ships within European territorial waters.

Pieter De Meyer, policy officer in DGMove’s unit dealing with Ports and Inland Navigation of the European Commission, announced the Commission’s forthcoming wide-ranging business survey regarding Port Services, which should be instrumental in defining the Commission’s future stance on Ports’ Policy. He invited the ETA and its members to engage in the informative dialogue with the Commission on the status of the towage industry, its needs and position vis-à-vis market access and other issues. Following the launch of this initiative in June, a Conference will be held on 25th and 26th September upon the instigation of Commissioner for Transpor,t Siim Kallas, where the results of the consultation circulated among stakeholders in the maritime sector will be presented.

Patrick Verhoeven, secretary general of the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO), detailed the role and structure of port authorities together with the recommendations of ESPO. This ‘Manifesto’ addresses port authorities, governments and the European Union, advocating independent port management to facilitate the removal of bottlenecks and warranting independence and good corporate governance.