European Shipyards’ Executives Voice Concerns
At the AWES and CESA annual meetings held in Nyborg, Denmark on May 16 and 17, shipyards and their associations from 15 European Countries discussed the situation in shipbuilding and related policies. Concern was expressed acknowledging recent developments regarding the trade dispute between the European Union and the Republic of Korea over illegal subsidies to the Korean shipbuilding industry. This dispute is going on since three years without any progress, leaving shipyards in Europe with great uncertainty over the framework they have to operate in. Neither side has taken any concrete action – Korea has not changed its unsustainable business practises and the European Union have not launched any counter measures.
Subsidies Top Shipyard Exec Meeting
At a recent meeting of top European shipbuilding executives it must have seemed like déjà vu times three, as Korean shipbuilding subsidies and their disastrous effect on ship pricing in general, and the European shipbuilding community specifically, topped the agenda. At the AWES and CESA annual meetings held in Nyborg, Denmark on May 16-17, shipyards and their associations from 15 European Countries discussed the situation in shipbuilding and related policies. The dispute is anything but new, with Europeans alleging subsidies and the South Koreans denying them. During its 57th General Assembly, AWES, the Association of European Shipbuilders and Shiprepairers also welcomed as new AWES member the Association of Croatian Shipbuilders and Shiprepairers.
