We were pleased to welcome numerous guests to this year’s Maritime Morning in Hamburg. Led by Dr Christian Finnern, the event focussed on current legal and commercial developments in the maritime sector. The morning concluded with a lively and thought-provoking panel discussion featuring Dr Gaby Bornheim (CEO, Peter Döhle Schiffahrts-KG and President, Verband Deutscher Reeder), Lucius Bunk (Founder/Managing Partner, Auerbach Schifffahrt) and Dr Arnt Vespermann (CEO, CPO Holding) – adding valuable external perspectives to the conversation.
Our partners Dr F. Maximilian Boemke, Stefan Hoffmann and Dr Andreas Wiegreffe moderated the sessions and addressed regulatory issues, legal risks in offshore wind and upcoming EU employment law requirements. Among the key legal perspectives discussed include:
- dispute resolution – ambitious targets for offshore wind bring various opportunities for the maritime industry. At the same time, challenges could likely increase the potential for conflicts for those involved in the sector. Preventive conflict resolution strategies through a targeted selection of dispute resolution platforms will therefore become even more important in the near future;
- employment law – the EU Pay Transparency Directive (“Entgelttransparenzrichtlinie”) must be transferred into national law by 7 June 2026 at the latest and will affect all employers – including those in the maritime sector. The implementation of the new legislation requires considerable preparation, possibly even the implementation of individual pay adjustments and, if necessary, negotiations with the works council and/or a relevant trade union. This is particularly important because the directive requires national legislators to introduce an ‘effective, proportionate and dissuasive’ sanctions regime; and
- regulatory – the EU’s 17th sanctions package introduced further measures against Russia, including targeted action against the so-called shadow fleet. An 18th package is already being prepared and is expected shortly. Rather than introducing entirely new sanctions, it will likely expand existing measures to additional market players. A stance of blissful ignorance is becoming increasingly untenable.
The detailed agenda (in German) can be found here.
If you want to discuss the insights above, or our work in the maritime sector more generally, please reach out to one of our partners via our website.
