All posts by Jonathan

FONASBA LAUNCHES THE YOUNG SHIP AGENT OR SHIP BROKER AWARD 2016

Following from the success of the first Young Ship Agent or Ship Broker award, FONASBA is pleased to announce today (16th November 2015) the launch of the 2016 award, which is once again generously supported by our colleagues at BIMCO and ITIC. The criteria for the award are unchanged so in summary we are once more inviting employees (aged 40 or under) of companies that are members of a FONASBA national association or directly employed by a FONASBA Club or Associate Member to submit a paper of up to 10,000 words on a subject related to the ship agency or ship broking professions or the wider maritime sector. The detailed award criteria, including the relevant deadlines for submitting initial summaries and the finished paper, can be downloaded here.

The winner of the Award will be invited to attend the Gala Dinner at the 2016 Annual Meeting in the London to receive their prize. The Award Review Committee look forward to receiving your entries and to making the 2016 Award another very successful event.

All questions relating to the Award criteria, eligibility or other matters should be addressed to Sara Robeznik at their FONASBA Secretariat: admin@fonasba.com

FONASBA PUBLISHES CONTAINER WEIGHING SURVEY

The amendments to SOLAS regulation 6.2 requiring the verification of the gross mass of containers  will be implemented with effect from 1st July 2016. In this regard, and with its ship agent members being a key link in the container transport chain,  FONASBA has supported the initiative since its inception and has been encouraging its member associations to engage with the relevant national authorities to have appropriate measures in place, and in good time, to ensure that introduction of the new regulations is accomplished as smoothly as possible.

During the summer of 2015, FONASBA surveyed its members to establish the current status of the preparations for implementation and the results were published at the plenary meeting of the Liner & Port Agency committee at the FONASBA 2015 Annual Meeting in Vitória, Brazil on 15th October.

Given the importance of this issue for international global container transportation, it has been decided to make the results of this survey available in the public domain and a summary of the responses received from member associations can be downloaded here: CONTAINER WEIGHING SURVEY 2015 RESPONSE SUMMARY

It is clear from the survey that many national authorities are far from ready for implementation of the new requiresments and FONASBA’s members are continuing to press those authorities for urgent action on this issue. In order to monitor progress in the months leading up to entry into force of the amendments,  FONASBA will  repeat the survey early in 2016 and the results will appear on this website shortly.

FONASBA Addresses IMO WMD on Education and Training

World Maritime Day 2015 took place on 24th September and this year the celebrations included a symposium on maritime education and training held at IMO Headquarters London. FONASBA’s support for the initiative led to an invitation from the IMO Secretary General Koji Sekimizu, to address the symposium on the actions it is taking to support education and training within its worldwide membership. Reproduced below are some photographs of FONASBA’s participation in the symposium:

IMO WMD 1

Jonathan Williams addresses the symposium at IMO

IMO WMD 2

Taking a question from the floor

IMO WMD 3

Maritime students and cadets from around the world attended the event.

A copy of FONASBA’s presentation to IMO can be downloaded here: FONASBA IMO WMD PRESENTATION 2015

FONASBA Young Ship Agent or Ship Broker Award – Winner Announced

A total of seven entries for the inaugural Young Ship Agent or Broker Award were received by the Award Review Panel. The papers were scrutinised over the summer by the Panel, consisting of former FONASBA President and Honorary Member Gunnar J. Heinonen (Chairman) FONASBA Vice President for Education Capt. Jakov Karmelic, and Charlotte Kirk FICS representing ITIC, one of the prize sponsors.

On 15th August, Mr. Heinonen announced that the winner of the Award was Renan Queiroz, a ship agent with Wilson Sons Ltda., of Brazil. Our congratulations go to Mr. Queiroz and also to the other six entrants for their excellent papers. Mr. Queiroz will be invited to attend the FONASBA Annual Meeting in Vitória, Brazil in October to receive his prizes, which were generously donated by ITIC and BIMCO.

Renan Queiroz, winner of the 2015 Award

A copy of the press release issued by FONASBA on 17th August can be found here.

Entries for the 2016 Young Ship Agent or Broker Award will open later this year. Further details will be published on this website in due course.

 

ECASBA Coordinates Joint Letter on Athens Declaration

ECASBA, has brought together a broad coalition of European shipping sector organisations to issue a joint statement calling on the European Parliament, Commission and Member States to honour the commitments to support short sea shipping that were made in May last year in the Athens Declaration.

ECASBA General Manager Jonathan C. Williams FICS, who coordinated the joint letter, said that the Declaration included a clear and unequivocal call by Transport Ministers for concerted action by Europe to allow short sea shipping to exploit its full potential as the most efficient and environmentally friendly mode of transport. One year on however, the actions that require to be taken to allow the Declaration aims to be achieved, have still not been progressed, he added.

The joint letter, a copy of which is attached, said that in spite of the Declaration commitments, inaction by some European institutions and Member State authorities continued to frustrate efforts to allow short sea shipping to compete with road and rail on a level playing field. Inaction on reducing administrative burdens, restrictions on port and terminal development, the failure by competing modes to pay their full infrastructure cost and a lack of a functioning single market in shipping, combined with environmental impediments such as the imposition of the SECA in the North and Baltic Seas, were hampering efforts to utilise the considerable growth potential of short sea shipping.

Williams said that the signatory associations were holding Europe to account on its commitments and wanted to see positive progress sooner rather than later.

The Athens Declaration letter was jointly signed by ECASBA in concert with the associations representing freight forwarders; CLECAT, shipowners; ECSA, shippers; ESC, port authorities; ESPO, the European Shortsea Network; ESN, terminal operators; FEPORT, ferry operators; INTERFERRY and the major container lines; WSC.

A copy of the joint letter can be found here: ATHENS DECLARATION – JOINT STATEMENT FINAL – APRIL 2015

FONASBA Enters Into Cooperation Agreement with European Short Sea School

During the 2015 ECASBA seminar in Brussels on 2nd March, FONASBA President Glen Gordon Findlay and Escola Europea de Short Sea Shipping (2E3S) Director Eduard Rodes signed a cooperation agreement to work together in developing projects to enhance short sea shipping, coastal and inland navigation worldwide.

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Pictured above, 2E3S Director Eduard Rodes (centre left) and FONASBA President Glen Gordon Findlay (centre right) with the signed agreement. Also pictured are FONASBA President Designate John Foord FICS (far left) and ECASBA Chairman Antonio Belmar da Costa (far right). Click on the image to view it in Hi-resolution.

A copy of the press released issued by FONASBA and 2E3S is available here: PRESS RELEASE – FONASBA-ECASBA-2E3S MARCH 2015

ECASBA supports European Shipping Week

ECASBA is proud to join with other European shipping organisations in announcing European Shipping Week, a new event aimed at demonstrating to the European Parliament, Council, Commission, policy makers and other stakeholders the breadth, depth and value of Europe’s shipping industry.

The inaugural Shipping Week will take place in Brussels in February or March 2015 and as a member of the steering committee, ECASBA will be closely involved in the development of the common events, which will include a welcome reception, a high-level conference and a gala dinner. ECASBA, along with the other organisations represented on the steering committee, will also be organising its own event during the week.

A copy of the initial press release issued by the steering committee members and event organiser Shipping Innovation on 31st July is attached and further details of the event will follow in due course.

ANNOUNCING EUROPEAN SHIPPING WEEK 2015

FONASBA Launches Education Course Database

The full range of courses for shore-based shipping professionals provided by FONASBA member associations are now publicly available for the first time via this website. This unique resource brings short summaries of all the courses together in one searchable database, allowing  students and others to sort the information using a number of criteria as well as view all entries if so required. The data in each course template is provided and maintained by the relevant association and so a link is provided to the association’s own website from where much more detail can be obtained.

The course can be directly accessed via this link www.fonasba.com/fonasba-education-and-training

A copy of the FONASBA press release announcing this latest education initiative can be found here: PRESS RELEASE – EDUCATION PAGES – MAY 2014