European Shipping Week Speaker Announced

Anthony Luzzatto Gardner, former US Ambassador to the European Union and Visiting Fellow at the College of Europe, will be the guest speaker at the European Shipping Week Gala Dinner, to be held on Wednesday 1st March 2017 at the Steigenberger Wiltcher Hotel in Brussels.
 
Ambassador Gardner, who has dedicated more than 20 years of his career to US-European affairs, will speak on the important subject of ‘US-EU Relations: Looking Back, Looking Forward’.
 
Welcoming the news, Patrick Verhoeven, Secretary General of the European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA) and Chairman of the European Shipping Week Steering Group, said his speech would be very insightful considering the political developments which have taken place in Europe and the US over recent months. “We are very much looking forward to it,” he said.
 
European Shipping Week will be held during the week of February 27th – March 3rd, 2017 when shipping industry leaders from Europe and around the world will descend on Brussels to meet and network with top ship owners as well as legislators from the European Commission, European Parliament and the Council of Ministers.
 
The initiative, which was started in 2015 by ECSA, will be run by a Steering Group made up of Europe’s main shipping organisations as well as the European Commission and Shipping Innovation. The shipping organisations involved on the Steering Group include: DG Move, the Permanent Representation of Malta to the EU, ECSA; Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Europe; European Community Association of Ship Brokers and Agents (ECASBA); Interferry; the European Dredging Association (EuDA); the World Shipping Council (WSC), the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), the European Tugowners’ Association (ETA) as well as the European Maritime Pilots Association (EMPA). Other European shipping associations may also be invited to support the initiative and hold relevant events during the week.