At the Cruise Europe Conference 2012 held at Royal Greenwich, London between the 24-26th April, Captain Michael McCarthy of the Port of Cork, Ireland was unanimously elected Chairman succeeding Dirk Moldenhauer who has served as Chairman for the last four years. Michael brings over 40 years of maritime experience to the position having served as Master at sea, Marine Surveyor, Deputy Harbour Master and is currently Commercial Manager with the Port of Cork Company.
On being elected Chairman, Michael thanked Dirk Moldenhauer for steering Cruise Europe through a modernization process and making it more professional and responsive to the requirements of its members. He also thanked the very committed Council Members for their vote of confidence in nominating him for the position as Chairman and the general membership for electing him.
Michael endorsed the vision of Cruise Europe which he said is "to deliver to the cruise companies a world class cruise destination on behalf of our members." He said he will continue working with the members to promote and develop a thriving and “must see” North and Atlantic European destination.
He added: “We are facing major challenges and it is vital that Cruise Europe members support the cruise lines through greater communications and develop outstanding service while keeping costs tightly under control, particularly as the lines adapt to the ECA [Emissions Control Area] regulations from 2015.” These regulations, which will reduce sulphur limits in fuel to 0.10%, will come into force on January 1st 2015. This will result in vessels operating from the English Channel through the North Sea into the Baltic from 2015 to have increased operating fuel costs of over 50%. McCarthy also outlined the benefits of being a member of Cruise Europe and the commitment to working closely with the ECC and other representative organizations.
The “State of the Industry” address at the conference was presented by David Dingle, Chief Executive Officer Carnival UK, who stressed that the cruise industry was very resilient and adaptable with an exciting future and that safety must always be the first duty. However he stated that it also faced many challenges from the consumer markets under pressure, high inflation, rising fuel costs, increased regulations and the challenging fiscal environment. Grant Laversuch, Operations Director Saga Cruises, stated during his presentation that “Cruise Europe offered great opportunities for cruise line executives to meet so many port representatives together”.
