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FEEDERSHIP operators will be delighted that the Baltic Max Feeder project is to be scrapped after banks pulled out, undoubtedly unnerved by the prospect of a European Commission investigation.
But that may not be the end of the affair, particularly for those owners that had planned to join the compensation scheme. For Brussels may still decide to go ahead with a probe, if it wants to delve more into the recent conduct of those behind the initiative.
That is not as vindictive as it sounds, since Brussels still needs more know-how in this sector. The Baltic Max Feeder investigation would have been the first since new maritime competition rules came into effect in 2008, giving Europe’s competition authorities the powers of enforcement in this sector for the first time.
Brussels has a good understanding of the liner trades after in-depth inquiries into the conference system, but has nothing like the same experience of the tramp sector.
An investigation of the Baltic Max Feeder scheme, should it still go ahead, would provide some clear guidance for the rest of the industry on the treatment of shipping pools and suchlike.
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