Rotterdam, 7 November 2019

On the 7th of November, FEPORT was invited to attend the ETA 2nd Autumn conference in Rotterdam, in the context of the Europort 2019 Exhibition and Conference.

The event brought together ETA members who discussed the thriving business models of the future.

Alec Laing, Managing Director of ACL Shipbrokers gave an overview of the current situation of the European towage market and explained how EU companies are coping with the new challenges posed by the digitalization of the sector, megaships and higher environmental constraints.

Marten van den Bossche, Senior Partner and Director Global Practice Transport Infrastructure and Mobility at Ecorys Netherlands provided a general outlook about maritime businesses while Ewout Mante, Digital Transformation Consultant, specialized in technical, commercial, and strategic thinking presented his views regarding new technologies and how they are currently causing disruption in the maritime sector.

Arnstein Eknes, Director for Special Ships at DNV GL and Board Member of the Shipping & Offshore Network, explained how maritime business models will need to change in the future to adapt to disruptive changes.

During the conference, Ecorys presented its recent study on the economic impact of the maritime towage sector in the European maritime economy.