The European Tugowners Association (ETA) announces the appointment of Anna Maria Darmanin as successor to Hugo Callens for the post of Secretary General. Anna Maria, a Maltese National with extensive experience in Brussels, started her transition engagements as from 1st February pending her confirmation in the position by ETA’s members at the next Annual General Meeting to be held in Edinburgh on 12tthMay, 2016. Anna Maria shall be succeeding Hugo Callens, who is Belgian and who decided to retire after being at the helm and holding the position of Secretary General at ETA for the last 14 years.
Prior to joining ETA, Anna Maria was a member of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) representing Malta for 11 years. During her tenure at the EESC, Anna Maria was elected Vice President of the EESC for a full term between 2010 and 2013, following which she held the post of Chair of the Single Market Observatory. As a member of the EESC she participated in a number of policy positions of the EESC, including maritime related policy.
Anna Maria is also a visiting lecturer of the University of Malta with the Faculty of Media and Knowledge Science; and she is also an accredited lecturer of the Henley School of Business, University of Reading, on their MBA outreach programme through the Malta Business School.
Anna Maria has work experience, prior to setting up her own business, in both the private and public sectors. More recently she is working as a Brussels based freelancer.
The European Tugowners Association (ETA) is a non-profit seeking organisation based in Brussels that represents at EU and maritime industry institutional levels the interest of over 80 full members owning and/or operating some 700 tugboats in 21 European countriesand employing over 8,000 people. Its core objectives are to advance and promote the interests of its members in relation to European legislation and policy in all relevant matters, develop a coherent strategy for the towage industry and maintain an effective internal and external communication flow between its members and pertinent stakeholders. Currently the Chairman of the ETA is also a Maltese national, Mario Mizzi who is the CEO and Director of Tug Malta.
With the recruitment of the new Secretary General, ETA aims to consolidate and build on the excellent work that has been carried out by Hugo Callens, particularly in representing and lobby for the interest of the towage industry and its members within the shipping industry and among EU institutions. Her mission would be to better position the Association to meet its long-term objectives.