Niels Smedegaard News

Danish international shipping and logistics company DFDS said that Niels Smedegaard, longtime CEO, will step down by the end of April. Current CFO Torben Carlsen will take over as new CEO.In close partnership with Niels Smedegaard, Torben Carlsen has been in-strumental in making DFDS a larger, stronger and more profitable company and will thus contribute to ensuring continuity in the development and op-eration of the company.Niels Smedegaard has been CEO of DFDS since 1 January 2007.Niels said: “My time at DFDS has been a fantastic journey, and I am proud of the progress that has been made for the company and its employees, cus-tomers and shareholders since I joined.

United Kingdom's Port of Felixstowe and Danish ferry operator, DFDS, have agreed to increase roll-on/roll-off (ro/ro) capacity at the UK port by over 40%.The decision has come about after investment in a new linkspan, tractor units and additional trailer parking facilities.As part of the investments, terminal operator Hutchison Ports has planned to replace one of the existing ro-ro bridges with a floating linkspan which is capable of handling the latest generation of ro-ro vessels.Additionally, for unaccompanied ro-ro traffic, Hutchison Ports has planned to create over 300 additional trailer spaces.Clemence Cheng, Chief Executive Officer at the Port of Felixstowe and Executive Director…

The Union of Greek Shipowners (UGS) has welcome to its premises the Board of Directors of Danish Shipping in the context of the bilateral meetings of the two national shipowners’ associations.Representing two traditional maritime nations, the Board of Directors of Danish Shipping, headed by its Chairman, Niels Smedegaard, met with the President,Theodore Veniamis and members of the UGS Board of Directors and engaged in what was described by both sides as “an open and constructive dialogue” on an array of important shipping issues.“We appreciate the opportunity to exchange views and hold fruitful discussions with our Danish colleagues and we are particularly pleased that they share the same willingness for collaboration and mutual understanding of viewpoints and positions…

Danish shipping and logistics group DFDS has completed the acquisition of Turkey’s largest operator of Ro-Ro freight ships and will be a major player in the strong and continuously growing trade between the EU and Turkey. In April, DFDS signed an agreement with the owners of  U.N. Ro-Ro to acquire the shares in the company, said a press release from the company. “All relevant authorities have now approved the transaction and I am very pleased to announce that on 7 June we completed the deal. U.N. Ro-Ro and its strong Mediterranean shipping network are now part of DFDS,” says Niels Smedegaard, CEO & President of DFDS. U.N. Ro-Ro operates…

Danish shipping and logistics group DFDS has acquired Turkey’s largest operator of Ro-Ro freight ships and will be a major player in the strong and continuously growing trade between the EU and Turkey. U.N. Ro-Ro operates five routes connecting Italy and France with Turkey, 12 ships and port terminals in Trieste and in Pendik, Istanbul. U.N. Ro-Ro employs 500 people. The deal is subject to approval by the authorities. ​Today, Danish shipping group DFDS signed an agreement to acquire 98.8 % of the shares in the shipping company U.N. Ro-Ro from Turkish private equity companies Actera and Esas for a price of EUR 950 million. U.N. Ro-Ro is Turkey's largest operator of Ro-Ro freight ships…

Co-hosted by The Danish Maritime Authority (DMA) and IALA, the conference ’e-Navigation Underway’ was held for the 8th time. 150 participants from 5 continents joined the hosts on a conference cruise departing from Denmark earlier this week. ​The debate at the conference was lively with a strong focus on applying digitalization to real world uses. President and CEO at DFDS, Niels Smedegaard, said during his speech at the conference: “We have to speed up on understanding and applying the new possibilities that new technology provides. The development is too rapid for the human mind to keep up. Some of the specific discussions on digitalization centered on topics such as digital port reporting, cyber security, and how Coastal States can apply new tech to become better at their job.

International cooperation on standardisation and maritime digitalisation are this year’s themes as the Danish Maritime Authority and IALA are hosting the conference ’e-Navigation Underway’ for the eighth time. The conference takes place on board the M/S PEARL SEAWAYS, which will be heading for Oslo on a return voyage from 24 to 26 January. Director General Andreas Nordseth from the Danish Maritime Authority will open the conference together with the Secretary-General of IALA, and this year’s keynote speaker is DFDS President and CEO Niels Smedegaard. Furthermore, various players, including IMO Technical Officer Sasha Pristom, will present ongoing international work within e-navigation and digitalisation.

The European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA), of which the UK Chamber is a member, have sent a letter to the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier, urging the EU for “rapid and positive” progress in trade talks with the UK. The European Council is currently engaged in a key vote on whether the next stage of negotiations will commence. ECSA represents shipowners from both sides of the Channel – organisations that facilitate a sizeable chunk of the €639 billion of trade that flows between the UK and EU annually. Until now, there has been no formal position from large, private-sector EU bodies on trade negotiations between the UK and the EU.

European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA) has held its Board of Directors’ meeting and Niels Smedegaard of Danish Shipping and CEO of DFDS handed over ECSA Presidency to Panagiotis Laskaridis, Member of the Board of the Union of Greek Shipowners and CEO of Laskaridis Shipping and CEO of Lavinia Corp. Panagiotis will start his two-year term as ECSA’s new President from January 2018. Smedegaard will remain Board Member representing Danish Shipping. “I am very pleased of this trust, and committed to focus the European shipping agenda on shipowning matters, work with stakeholders for an efficient, competitive and future oriented European shipowning community’’, Laskaridis said.

Global Maritime Forum, Carbon War Room, the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition (CPLC), and University College London (UCL) has announced the launch of a Task Force on Decarbonizing Shipping. This industry-led initiative will develop tangible pathways for shipping’s decarbonization through five working groups, each focussed on a key area of the industry. Outcomes of the task force will be presented at the Global Maritime Forum’s inaugural summit in October 2018. The Task Force on Decarbonizing Shipping will bring together leaders and experts from across the maritime industry to develop and mobilize the industry along tangible pathways aligned with ambitious, science-based emission reduction targets.

ECSA, European Community Shipowners’ Associations has appointed Mr. Martin Dorsman (56) as its new Secretary General in Brussels. Mr. Dorsman will start in his new position on November 1st 2017. Mr. Dorsman will transfer to ECSA from the Royal Association of Netherlands Shipowners (KVNR) where he has held the position of Managing Director since 2011. Before taking that position he worked for five years as the association’s Deputy Managing Director. He has a Doctorate Degree in Macro Economic Policy and over 30 years of experience of different leadership roles and a sound knowledge of shipping. Prior to his time at the Royal Association of Netherlands Shipowners he worked as a civil servant for the Dutch Government, including six years at the shipping policy department. Mr.

European shipowners have welcomed provisional application of the Comprehensive Economic Trade agreement between the EU and Canada (CETA). The CETA agreement will boost trade considerably between the EU and Canada. It will cut customs duties and open new markets for shipping companies such as dredging, movement of empty containers and certain transportation between Canadian ports. "It is important for the EU to sign ambitious trade agreements such as CETA, especially in the current political climate where global and open trade is put under pressure," commented Niels Smedegaard, president of the European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA). "We therefore were pleased to hear European Commission President Mr.

In spite of the ongoing Brexit discussion, DFDS continued to increase its volumes on the North Sea freight routes to and from the UK. Continued growth in the UK and EU economies is good news for all, said a press release from Northern Europe's largest shipping and logistics company. DFDS' recently published Q2 results were the best ever recorded in the company and this was among other things due to a very positive development in trade across the North Sea. DFDS' routes carried 6% more trailers between ports in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium and ports in the UK. "The UK is our largest freight market, and we are encouraged by the positive development which we have seen year-on-year in spite of the discussion about possible Brexit effects," says Niels Smedegaard.

Northern European shipping and logistics company DFDS said it has ordered another pair of large ro-ro ships from the Jinling Shipyard, doubling its order placed last year at the Chinese yard. DFDS signed a contract with Jinling in 2016 for the construction of two ro-ro vessels, each with 6,700 lane meter load capacity and space for 450 trailers. Now the company has ordered another two of these ships – its largest ever – to service freight customers across the North Sea from 2019 and 2020.

Patrick Verhoeven will leave the European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA) on September 1 this year to become Managing Director Policy and Strategy at the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH). This is a new leadership function that was created following a fundamental reform of the organization, which is meant to increase its international relevance and visibility as well as strengthen its membership base. Announcing the decision, ECSA President Niels Smedegaard said, “Patrick has regretfully decided to leave his position with us after four years, to take up a new role in a global environment. I would like to thank him for his modernisation of the ECSA secretariat…

European Transport Ministers adopted Wednesday afternoon a ministerial declaration on maritime transport. The declaration outlines priorities for the EU's maritime transport policy, focusing on competitiveness, digitalisation and decarbonisation. The so-called 'Valletta Declaration' was agreed at the end of a two-day ministerial stakeholder conference organised by the Maltese Presidency of the EU. European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA) President Niels Smedegaard congratulated the Maltese Presidency for the initiative and welcomed the Valletta Declaration as an important foundation to prepare the EU shipping strategy for the next decade.

The EU has an overall competitive regime in place for fiscal and social measures as well as quality registers and a strong skills base. This combination supports the current status of the EU as an attractive location for shipping activities. To develop further growth in European shipping, the EU however needs to adapt this framework into a comprehensive, globally oriented shipping policy that aims to improve the EU’s competitiveness as a location for international shipping. That…

European Shipping Week has been granted the European Parliament’s official patronage by its President, Mr Martin Schultz. Commenting on European Shipping Week, Mr Schultz said his institution appreciated the opportunity for open dialogue between policy makers and representatives of the shipping industry to debate the future of European shipping policy. In a letter to Niels Smedegaard, President of the European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA), Mr Schulz said: “As you are aware, the transport sector is the driving force of the EU economy, and Europe is a world leader in both manufacturing and transport operations. Welcoming the European Parliament’s patronage…

The European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA) presented its new brochure on the merits of short sea shipping during  a high level meeting organised by the Dutch Presidency of the Council. The intention behind this new initiative is to revitalise the EU’s short sea policy, which has unfortunately been neglected in the past years. “Short Sea Shipping has been on the EU’s agenda for a long time” said Niels Smedegaard, ECSA President. “Despite many good initiatives, a number of long-standing problems have not been resolved, the market share of short sea shipping has stagnated, and worse still, declined in recent years. "Moving goods and people by sea around Europe instead of using other modes will decongest land-based transport networks…

If Britain votes to leave the European Union, the country's shipping sector faces years of disruption as trade agreements get reworked and currency volatility leads to higher costs at a time when the industry is battling its worst global downturn. Shipping contributes some 10 billion pounds ($14.2 billion) annually to the UK economy and directly employs 240,000 people in multiple areas including maritime services such as ports, transportation, as well as ship broking and marine insurance.

EU Transport and Environment Ministers meet April 14-15 in Amsterdam for an informal joint Council meeting under the Dutch EU Presidency. The agenda features a discussion on how Member States could make a positive and constructive contribution to achieve an international framework of CO2 reduction commitments. The informal Council meeting is held ahead of the 69th session of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) session, which takes place next week in London. MEPC will feature a discussion on a global data collection system that will provide information on the emissions from maritime shipping on an annual basis. ECSA…

“We believe that shipping, together with all other industry sectors, must be part of the solution to limit the increase in global temperature, as we clearly are a global contributor to carbon emissions,” said European Community Shipowners' Associations (ECSA) President, Niels Smedegaard. “The overall goal however must be a global agreement for maritime emissions, which the International Maritime Organisation is moving towards. The EU has shown leadership by adopting its regulation on monitoring, reporting and verifying CO2 emissions of shipping," he said. “Our focus should now be on ensuring the proper implementation of the MRV Regulation and make certain that the regulation is aligned with the IMO data collection system which will be formalised in October this year.

The future of European shipping policy was debated on Wednesday in a seminar held in Valletta, Malta, a few days after the European Commission published the implementation report of its mid-term Review of EU Maritime Transport Policy. “The seminar organised by ECSA comes at the right time. The European Commission just published its report on the EU maritime strategy, to set the stage for the Maritime Year 2017. The seminar shows how closely industry and Commission collaborate to make this year a joint success”, commented Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc. The seminar was held in anticipation of the Maltese Presidency of the EU and the next edition of European Shipping Week, which will be held from 27 February to 3 March next year.