The European Tugowners Association (ETA) celebrated its 59th Annual Meeting on the Spanish island of Tenerife. This year´s event was kindly hosted by ETA local member Boluda Towage. 140 participants among ETA full and associate members and guests attended the Annual Meeting, making this event another success when it comes to organization, participation and the quality of the discussions.
This year´s event was special as it included an extra day for associate and full members with an edition of the golf tournament and an exclusive full members dinner. During the 4 days Annual Meeting the attendants reinforced their business and personal relations during a number of social events in a paradisiac environment. Moreover, they also had the opportunity to discuss the present and future of the European towage industry and Association, which next year will celebrate its 60th anniversary in London, back to where it was founded. Furthermore, ETA delegates could welcome three new associate members, Finanzauto, Helm Operations and Njord Marine Management. With the incorporation of these members ETA reaches the number of 84 full members and 42 associate ones.
This year´s ETA Conference “Trends impacting Towage Operations“ focused on the current tendencies within the maritime market that are having an impact on the day-to-day operations of the towage sector. The event, brilliantly moderated Riviera Maritime´s Executive Director, Edwin Lampert, was opened by Olaf Merk (International Transport Forum) who outlined the issues caused by market concentration in the liner shipping sector, such as price hikes and shipment delays, which are creating a logistics crisis in terminals. Furthermore, Willem-Jan Hamers (Redwise Maritime Services) and Steve Dougal (Century Marine Services) analysed the different trends impacting the sector´s operations (emissions, digitization, automation, skills, etc.) and the best ways the industry can adopt in order to maintain its competitiveness and the highest safety standards. You can click on their names to download the presentations.
The ETA Secretariat wants to warmly thank the host company, Boluda Towage, for its enthusiastic assistance without which this 59th Annual Meeting would not be possible to organize. We also want to extend our warmest gratitude to the sponsors for their generous contribution.
ETA’s work during the next 12 months will focus on improving the services given to its members and on the implementation of its strategic vision, including representing the industry´s interest before the EU and national institutions, raising awareness of the towage sector, the relevance of the industry at different levels and the issues affecting its competitiveness within the European and international context.
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