Association to represent European maritime technology industry

The aim is to give a joint home to all CESA and EMEC members and to invite additional relevant stakeholders to consider this joining of forces.
Both institutions said that the main reason to pursue the forming of the association was the fact that European shipbuilders and the maritime engineering and manufacturing companies shared common interests, concerns and policy objectives. They serve global, highly competitive markets with the highest technology requirements. Under the given conditions, European enterprises succeed based on know-how, innovation, productivity, quality, service and full customer satisfaction. This was only possible with a well-trained and highly motivated workforce and with framework conditions allowing global competition on a level playing field.
While elaborating further administrative details, the still nameless organisation has already started operation on several projects, in particular the renewal of the LeaderSHIP 2015 initiative, which features all important issues for the competitiveness of the European maritime sector, launched by the European Commission’s vice president Antonio Tajani.
The new associations is said to represent close to 100% of the European shipbuilding industry in 18 nations, encompassing the production, maintenance, repair and conversion of all types of ships and floating structures, commercial as well as naval, including the full supply chain with the various producers of maritime systems, equipment material, and services
The boards of CESA and EMEC nominated Lars Gørvell-Dahll, president of EMEC, as first chairman and Bernard Meyer, CEO of Meyer Werft in Papenburg, as first vice chairman. Reinhard Lüken, secretary general of CESA, will take the operative responsibility as secretary general of the new organisation, with Douwe Cunningham, acting secretary general of EMEC, as deputy secretary general. The first general assembly will be held in June 2012.