It has come to our attention that some “@fonasba.com” email addresses, which are only issued to serving members of the Executive Committee and the Secretariat, have been hijacked for “phishing” purposes. We have managed to avoid this for many years but it was inevitable that our domain would be targeted at some time. As a result, any email that appears to come from such an address that does not look or read right should be carefully checked (a useful  series of tests is listed in this guidance note) before clicking on any of the embedded links or opening any attachments.

Unfortunately it is not possible to automatically block or restrict these emails. We apologise for any inconvenience or concern this may cause and thank you for your vigilance in checking any suspect emails.

FONASBA and BIMCO have today (Tuesday 5th December) launched the latest in its suite of agency documents, the General Agency Agreement (GAA). Complimenting the Agency Appointment Agreement (AAA) launched earlier this year, the GAA is designed to cover the appointment of an agent for a longer period, or over a wider range of ports, than the AAA.

The GAA is in the same box-format as the AAA and shares common terms, layout and other features designed to ensure the two documents are consistent and interchangeable.

Further information on the new form, including sample copies and a set of explanatory notes, can be found here.

In October 2017, ECASBA was invited to counter-sign a transport industry statement calling on the UK Government and the European Commission to prioritise efforts to implement a seamless and effective transitional trade regime between the United Kingdom and the European Union in order to mitigate the effects of Brexit. A copy of the statement can be found here.

On 20th February, FONASBA was invited by BIMCO to participate in a webinar on the new Agency Appointment Agreement form and the FONASBA Quality Standard. The webinar was extremely well supported with over 300 participants  registering to view it.

In the first section, FONASBA President John Foord FICS, BIMCO Documentary Committee member Han van Blanken and ITIC Claims Director Andrew Jamieson discussed the new AA form, its development and its anticipated usage. They also responded to a number of questions sent in from the audience.

Following that, FONASBA General Manager Jonathan C. Williams FICS discussed the background to the Quality Standard, the requirements for obtaining it and the current level of implementation worldwide.

A recording of the webinar is now available but for the sake of clarity it has been split to show the two subjects separately. Both can be downloaded from this website.

The AAA recording can be found on our Documentation page here and the Quality Standard section here. Both are also available on the BIMCO YouTube channel.

FONASBA is very grateful to BIMCO for their generosity in hosting the two webinars and for their enthusiastic support for both the development of the AAA document and of the Quality Standard since its launch in 2007.

The influential Rotterdam-based shipping and logistics publication “Nieuwsblad Transport” this month interviewed Marco Tak of Dutch ship agents association VNC. The article specifically highlighted the enthusiasm with which the ship agency sector in the Netherlands has supported the introduction of the FONASBA Quality Standard. With the Standard only having been accredited in the Netherlands in September 2016, the number of companies currently approved to the Standard now stands at 22, with more expected in the coming weeks and months. The names of those companies are listed on the Quality Standard page of this website, and in the “Nieuwsblad Transport”article. More detailed information can be downloaded here.

Photographs of the ceremony held in early January to mark the award of the certificates to the first Dutch companies can be found on the VNC website and the “Nieuwsblad Transport” interview with Marco Tak (in Dutch) can be found here.

On 9th January 2017, FONASBA and BIMCO issued the new Agency Appointment Agreement form, a new document designed to formalise the appointment of a ship agent for a single port call or short series of calls to a single port or limited range of ports.

A copy of the press release issued jointly by FONASBA and BIMCO can be found here and a copy of the new form and its accompanying Explanatory Notes can be found on the Documentation page of this website here.

FONASBA’s European Committee, ECASBA, has joined the newly established “I AM Logistics and Connectivity for Growth Alliance”. This new body emerged from an initiative by FEPORT, the European Federation of Private Port Operators, to bring together an extended coalition of mainly European maritime industry organisations, representing a wide spectrum of sector and disciplines, with the aim, as the attached press release states, of boosting and enhancing European multimodal and logistic connectivity through direct engagement with EU decision makers and agencies. The size of the alliance, comprising twenty of the largest maritime organisations (the names of the founders can be found in the press release – see below), should ensure that it gets its voice heard at the highest levels. That size will also mean that some policy actions will not be supported by all of the members and so there will be the opportunity for associations to opt out of a particular issue.

The alliance was officially launched at the second of FEPORT’s Annual Stakeholder Conferences which took place in Brussels on 6^th December and ECASBA was present. A plenary meeting of the alliance members is scheduled for spring 2017, at which time the priorities for the initial series of actions will be determined. It is however anticipated that the Combined Transport Directive (92/106/EEC of 7 December 1992 on the establishment of common rules for certain types of combined transport of goods between Member States) and the Mid-Term Evaluation of the Connecting Europe Facility will be two topics under discussion.

ECASBA will actively participate in the work of the alliance.

A copy of the launch press release can be found here

FONASBA is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2016 Young Ship Agent or Broker Award for 2016 is Tim Polson MICS, a shipbroker with Australian Independent Shipbrokers in Australia.

For further information please go to the Award section of our Education and Training pages here.

Following publication of the updated container weighing survey at the end of March, FONASBA was invited by Port Technology International magazine to record a video interview on the impact that the SOLAS Amendments will have on our members and to highlight some of the issues that we see arising from implementation. We were very pleased to be given the opportunity to express our views and the interview was recorded in late April.

The interview is available in two parts from the Port Technology International website at: www.porttechnology.org/news/container_weighing_clearing_the_confusion and this also provides links to other articles on the subject, including our press release of 4th April.

Both parts of the video can also be viewed below.