Bibliotheek

With the extension of the EU Emission Trading System (EU ETS) to maritime transport in 2024, the Royal Belgian Shipowners’ Association is organising a kick-off info session for its members this coming 27 October. Representatives of the Federal Public Service Mobility and Transport will also take part in the event.

The Antwerp-based family business Fast Lines Belgium is a well-known logistic and maritime actor in Belgium and abroad. Besides its HQ in Antwerp, the company has subsidiaries in the UK, Ireland, and Poland. This international character is also evident in their cosy office at the Scheldekaaien, where employees of various nationalities can be found. Like the Polish Iga Cierpiel (27), Shipping & Sustainability Engineer. She’s been developing her maritime career for some time now, and she’s in charge of making all services offered by Fast Lines more sustainable.

It’s not just the employees on board that matter, if you want to sail the right course as a maritime company.

SeaTalk had an interview with Rudi Vander Eyken, Head of IT and Innovation at tanker shipping company Euronav, a company that he describes as “young, dynamic and fast-growing”.

Vincent and Pierre Durot are two brothers at the helm of Antwerp-based shipping company Boeckmans. They are the fourth generation in this family business that was founded in 1935, and has grown into one of the largest independent shipping agencies in the Benelux, with offices in Antwerp and Rotterdam. While this is still the core business of the company, its activities have expanded over the years: they have purchased their own ships and now offer an A to Z service. SeaTalk met with Pierre (40), the youngest of the two managers. He talks about his passion for the maritime business and the challenges he faces as an entrepreneur.

Helga Van Noten used to stay regularly with her grandparents, in a flat on the Scheldt quays. The ships stirred the little girl’s curiosity. What is their destination, who are the people on board…? No one in her family was active in the maritime sector, so she lacked a stepping stone to enter this world.

After months of being trapped at sea due to the pandemic, the current war in Ukraine is holding hundreds of thousands of seafarers hostage from the global merchant fleet. There are indeed many seafarers of both Ukrainian and Russian nationalities working on board ships. Many Ukrainian seafarers yearn to go home whilst the sanctions are making it harder to sign on Russian seafarers.

Following the inoculation of foreign and Belgian seafarers since June, Belgium is once again spearheading a booster vaccine campaign for these maritime workers starting 7 December.