Extensive Agenda at the spc General Assembly

The Association for the Promotion of Short Sea Shipping e.V., as the operator of the Shortsea Shipping Inland Waterway Promotion Center (spc), held its general assembly in its 20th year of existence. The agenda was extensive. In addition to the regular board elections, the resolution of a change to the statutes and the commissioning for the creation of a guiding principle were on the agenda.

(Hamburg/Bonn) At its general assembly, the Association for the Promotion of Short Sea Shipping e.V. had a richly loaded agenda to tackle.

In the board elections, the following were confirmed in office: Wolfgang Nowak, HGK Shipping GmbH as Chairman of the Board, Heiko Loroff, Saxon Inland Ports Oberelbe GmbH and delegate of the Federal Association of Public Inland Ports (BÖB) as Deputy Chairman of the Board, and Susanne Neiro, K+S Minerals and Agriculture GmbH as a board member. Newly elected to the board were Gerd Thiebes, Am Zehnhoff-Söns Group, and Alexander Busse, W.E.C. Lines Deutschland GmbH, each as board members. Nowak thanked his predecessor Knut Sander both in his capacity as Chairman of the Board and personally for his great commitment and good work. Loroff praised Sander as someone who was always fully engaged and thanked him as well.

Weathered the Pandemic Well

Wolfgang Nowak described it as very pleasing that the association has so far weathered the turmoil and effects of the Corona pandemic well. “The transition to digital activities is working well and enjoys very positive feedback. We were able to welcome many new contacts that we would not have reached with in-person events. Moreover, the number of members has remained constant,” said Nowak.

spc Managing Director Markus Nölke announced the establishment of working groups for inland shipping, short sea shipping, rail freight transport, and ports/terminals in the fall. In these working groups, the members of the sponsoring association can use the exchange to jointly discuss solutions and recommendations for urgent industry problems as well as the systemic framework conditions. In overarching expert discussions and an annual status conference, the results of the working groups will then culminate in concrete recommendations with a focus on multimodal transport chains. “With this structure, the substantive work will be further strengthened, made more concrete, and intensified,” said Nölke.

Association’s Profile to Become More Visible

“The association is currently working on creating a guiding principle that documents the essential elements for the work of the spc. This is intended to make the profile of the association and its tasks more visible in external relations and to serve as motivation for all involved actors. This guiding principle is to become the figurehead of the association,” said Nowak. This was preceded by a specification and revision of the statutes, which were adopted at the general assembly.

Looking ahead to 2022, Nowak stated that preparations are underway and that they are currently expecting a “normal” year. However, restrictions cannot be ruled out. We hope to be able to conduct the usual in-person events again. This is especially true for the ShortSeaShipping Days, which are planned for March 23 and 24 in Lübeck. In addition, we will continue to hold digital thematic events.

The next spc event will take place on June 21 in digital form and will deal with the topic of the Silk Road and its significance for short sea and inland shipping. With a themed evening in Neuss on September 16, the spc aims to resume its in-person events.

Photo: © spc / Caption: Wolfgang Nowak