The European Tugowners Association (ETA) convened once again for its 62nd Annual General Meeting, this time in Brucoli, located in the province of Syracuse (IT). The event was hosted by ETA local member Medtug. 140 delegates attended the Meeting, coming together to explore current challenges and future developments in the port towage industry, while also strengthening the bonds that unite the Association.
The ETA Annual General Meeting approved the change in the Chairmanship of the Association. After two successful years, Alberto Dellepiane (Medtug) handed over the chairmanship to Mattias Helstrom (Svitzer Sverige), who will lead the European Tugowners Association for the next two years term. Supporting him in this role is the newly appointed Deputy Chairman, Holger Schwesig from Fairplay Towage.
The Executive Committee and the Annual General Meeting delegates reviewed as well the Secretariat´s work carried out during the last 12 months and discussed the current affairs affecting the towage sector like the potential inclusion of tugboats in the Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) Regulation and the upcoming European Port Strategy and the Industrial Maritime Strategy. The delegates welcomed as well the new associate members, Beequip, Navtor, Polestar Publishing, AST Reygar and Seawind Hellas. With the addition of this new member ETA reaches the number of 81 full members and 46 associate ones.
Outgoing Chairman Alberto Dellepiane expressed his gratitude to the members for their support throughout the last two years. In his closing speech, he referred to the true essence of the association: “We are all competitors, but here in ETA we work closely together to strengthen the industry across Europe.” He also gave his best wishes to Mattias Helstrom, who succeeds him, and offered him his continuous support.
ETA new Chairman, Mattias Helstrom said: ‘I thank the members of the ETA for entrusting me with the chairmanship of the association. It is truly a great honour. I look forward to working together with Anna Maria Darmanin and Holger Schwesig, as well as all the members of the executive committee, to diligently represent the interest of our industry. I would also like to thank Alberto Dellepiane for his great contribution during the past two years’.
The four days event was full of activities organized to foster the discussions on the Association and the European towage sector´s future, but also designed to reinforce the business and personal relations among ETA members. The Annual Meeting´s delegates could experience the colour, beauty and flavours of Sicily (and even Etna´s eruption) at the welcome dinner, at Castello Xirumi, which offered ETA members an authentic traditional Sicilian experience with folk music, dances and even a puppets show. The cherry on the cake was the gala dinner, which took place at palazzo Biscari in Catania, a jewel of Sicilian barroque built in the eighteenth-century.
 |
 |
 |
 |
In this edition, the ETA Conference had as theme ‘AI Horizons: Transforming Maritime Operations’. The speakers and attendants explored how artificial intelligence is reshaping the maritime and towage sectors. The event was formally opened by Admiral Massimo Seno (Government Commissioner of the Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority), who emphasized the critical role of public institutions in balancing port efficiency with maritime safety and stressed the importance of updated regulatory frameworks to support emerging technologies like Artificial Inteligence. Federica Matarazzi, Head of Data and AI Development at IBM Italy, delivered a compelling keynote introducing real-world AI implementations in the maritime sector. Ms Matarazzi emphasized governance, regulatory compliance, and the upcoming EU AI Act as critical for ethical adoption of this technology. İpek Gurun, Corporate Strategy Director at Sanmar, followed with a systems-based perspective on AI’s integration into shipyard operations. Ms Gurun emphasized the potential of AI in predictive planning, vessel design, and crew optimization while cautioning that most AI applications today remain assistive, not autonomous. She advocated for the maritime sector to accelerate its adoption of tools that have already proven transformative in adjacent industries. Stephan Hennig, the UK Secretary of State’s Representative for Maritime Salvage and Intervention (SOSREP), offered a regulatory and crisis management perspective. Mr Hennig recounted historical lessons from major maritime incidents underscoring the need for swift, centralized decision-making and inter-agency cooperation. He discussed how AI could support emergency response through simulation, decision optimization, and stakeholder communication—but warned that human oversight must remain central. The ETA Conference was concluded by Prof. Dr. Nikolaos Antonakakis (Webster University) with a data-driven overview of how AI is already embedded in the daily routines of tugboat operations. Dr. Antonakakis mapped the progression of AI in the sector—from remote navigation and predictive maintenance to fleet coordination and environmental optimization.
You can download the presentations by clicking on the names.
The ETA Secretariat wants to extend its sincere thanks to Medtug for their outstanding support, which played a key role in making the 62nd Annual Meeting a great success, in spite of Etna´s unexpected eruption. The Secretariat also wishes to express its heartfelt appreciation to the sponsors for their generous contributions.
0 Comments