An announcement today has confirmed that the European Commission is to conduct an in-depth investigation over a possible breach of EU regulations by the Baltic Max Feeder scheme for European feeder vessel owners.
The formal antitrust investigation will look at the potential existence of restrictive business practices as a matter of priority, the EC said in a press release.
'The Commission is in particular concerned that the scheme, whereby European ship owners collectively agree to cover the costs of removing feeder vessels fro service, may be aimed at reducing capacity and therefore at pushing up charter rates for such vessels,' the Commission statement read.
'Typically, feeder vessels collect shipping containers from different ports and transport them to central container terminals where they are loaded onto bigger vessels.'
Opening antitrust proceedings did not mean that the Commission had conclusive proof of any infringements, the EC pointed out.
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