Who we are 
OCEAN – the European Ship Suppliers Organization - is the voice of the Ship Supplying Industry of Europe. Founded in 1976 under the French Title: “Organisation de la Communauté Européenne des Avitailleurs de Navires”, today OCEAN concentrates its work on achieving an optimum business climate for European Ship Suppliers and on strengthening the competitiveness of the industry as a whole.
Our Organization plays an important role in creating better understanding of the Ship Supply industry in Europe. Our organization is committed to transparent and open communication and inclusive dialogue between our members and European policy-makers. Today, we represents over 750 Ship Chandlers (more than 250,000 jobs) who supply a wide range of goods to several hundred thousands ships annually in most of the 1,200 merchant ports throughout the 70,000 km of the European coastline. Ship Suppliers provide a 24 hour service throughout the year and are an essential element of modern maritime trade and a vibrant shipping industry, which is responsible for 90% of the EU's international trade and around 40% of the freight exchanges between EU Member States (Source: EU Commission). OCEAN speaks on European policy matters affecting our daily business, particularly Customs (import, export and transit); Taxation (Excise & VAT); Veterinary rules and Maritime Affairs. Our vision is to be
The Organization has two secretariats - in London office for the administration and the running of the organsiation and in Brussels - our Euroepan Affairs and Advocacy office! The Administrative Secretary in London is Mr. Spencer Eade (secretariat@shipsupply.eu) and the Secretary General in Brussels is Mr. Jean-Luc Mériaux (info@shipsupply.eu).
OCEAN is also committee of ISSA - the International Shipsupply and Services Association - recognising the global nature of our trade. The OCEAN Board is represented by Mr. Alfredo Tosato, President of OCEAN. To contact him, please write to president@shipsupply.eu The OCEAN Secretariat in Brussels can be contacted by post by writing to: OCEAN c/o UECBV Rue de la Loi 81 A 4th Floor 1040 Brussels Belgium Our business – a first glace of the particularities of our trade
Service at any time – day or night
Ship supplying is a very long established trade, going back to the days of the sailing ships, for which it took weeks, months or even years to complete voyages. Although there are still ports where loading and unloading may take several days, generally spoken modern shipping requires only one day, or even hours, in port before putting to sea again. This makes a severe demand on the efficiency of the Ship Supplier. In general this trade has adapted itself to meet this need, and nowadays the Ship Supplier is fully prepared to store ships at any time of the day or night.
Liaison
Close liaison is maintained by ships and their suppliers and orders are often sent to the supplier in advance of the ship’s arrival using latest communication technology. This liaison is all the more important when supplying oil tankers or ships carrying other dangerous goods like chemicals. Stores may only be taken on board during the short period when such a ship is not loading or discharging.
Just-in-time / Thousands of articles / Policy areas affected
European ship supplying is a unique “just-in-time” business which encompasses many different transport modes in many different countries under special time and financial constraints. Thousands of different articles are traded – from peanuts and sand to big cylinder liners or heavy anchors, plants, Christmas trees, etc. Perishable goods play a special role in this respect. Dairy products, fresh and frozen meat, vegetables and luxury goods, tobacco and wine and spirits require special physical treatment. As we deal with bringing goods to and from the vessel, the whole range of present and future customs rules (import, export and transit customs procedures) and veterinary prescriptions affects Ship Supply to a large extent.
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