European shipowners will soon be represented at a political level by Mikki Koskinen from Finland. He is Managing Director of the shortsea and MPP shipping company ESL Shipping.
The General Assembly of the European Shipowners’ Association ECSA has now elected ESL boss Koskinen as Vice President for the years 2024 and 2025[ds_preview].
The election is also a “preliminary decision” for the presidency. According to common practice, the Vice President is elected ECSA President after his two-year term of office.
Koskinen Managing Director of ESL since 2013
Mikki Koskinen is the first Finn to head ECSA, acting as the voice of the European shipping industry and advocating for a regulatory environment that promotes the international competitiveness of responsible European shipping. Europe’s shipowners control 39.5% of the world fleet. This involves 23,400 ships with a total of 810 million tdw or 550 million GT.
The role of the EU in regulating shipping has increased significantly in recent years. The changing foreign and security policy situation underlines the importance of shipping for the EU and Finland in particular, as 96% of the EU’s foreign trade is carried out by sea. “It is interesting to be the first Finn to lead the European shipping industry’s umbrella organization in an increasingly difficult environment,” said Koskinen.
Mikki Koskinen has been Managing Director of ESL Shipping since 2013 and Chairman of the Board of the Finnish Shipowners’ Association from 2021 to 2023. Since 2016, he has represented the Finnish Shipowners’ Association on the board of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), the global trade association for shipowners and managers.
