Brussels, 29/03/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 26 March, the European Commission closed the investigation into a potential breach of European Union competition rules in the planned “Baltic Max Feeder” scheme for “feeder” vessel owners since the scheme was abandoned.
It was in January of this year that the Commission opened an investigation into the “Baltic Max Feeder” scheme under which European “feeder” vessel owners agreed jointly to cover the costs of removing vessels from service (see EUROPE 10057). Feeder vessels are small container ships for short-sea transport and are, in general, the first and last link in the maritime transport chain. They transport, or “feed”, containers arriving at, or departing from, central container terminal ports (such as Hamburg or Rotterdam) served by large deep-sea container vessels, to smaller ports in the region. Feeder vessel operators own the vessels they operate or charter them from the vessel owners.
The Commission investigation sought to establish whether the aim of the scheme purpose was to reduce capacity and, therefore, push up charter rates for such vessels. If this had been confirmed, it would probably have constituted a breach of Article 101 of the treaty, which bans agreements restrictive of competition.
In response to the opening of proceedings by the Commission, Anchor Steuerberatungsgesellschaft mbH, the company behind the scheme, informed the Commission in February that the planned scheme had been abandoned. Under these circumstances, the Commission considered that there was no reason for further investigation and decided to close the case. (O.L./transl.rt)