Christmas greetings

An eventful year is now coming to an end, which gives us the opportunity to thank all DTG members and their families for their commitment and dedication. It is just these qualities that constitute the DTG.

During the last years, deadlines and time pressure have constantly been increasing, leaving almost no room for rest and recreation. Particularly in these times, solidarity within the cooperative is essential in order to achieve our common goal, the economic success of the DTG.

We wish you all a peaceful and merry Christmas, plenty of time for reflection and joint activities in your families, a Happy New Year and good luck, health and success for 2016.

DTG at the 14th Mannheim Symposium

On 23 October 2015, the 14th Meeting of Mannheim for inland waterway law was held, on which the DTG was represented by board member Roberto Spranzi. In his capacity as honorary Vice Chairman of the “Schifferbörse zu Duisburg-Ruhrort e. V.” (Old Freight Exchange in Duisburg-Ruhrort, registered association) he gave a lecture on the new arbitration of the Schifferbörse, established on 17 June 2015. This arbitration, which is specialized in cases of inland waterways, offers quick and final decisions, thus saving time and money. In a dispute, the parties choose one arbitrator each from a group of experts – either a lawyer, an engineer, a nautical or an insurance salesman – and declare their willingness to accept the award.

Despite the anticipated criticism of lawyers, which was not entirely unfounded regarding lack of transparency or suspension of statutory limitation, the organizer affirmed after the meeting that exclusively positive feedback had been given.

Other topics of the meeting were the responsibility of piloting and developments in inland navigation law.