About Us
The GMAA was founded in 1983 by shipping merchants and maritime lawyers from Hamburg and Bremen to provide the shipping industry with an effective and inexpensive alternative to institutional and foreign arbitration tribunals.
Since then, the GMAA has established itself in the shipping industry. It currently has around 200 members.
The GMAA is an unincorporated association dedicated to promoting alternative dispute resolution procedures in the maritime industry. The GMAA does not conduct any proceedings itself, but merely provides the relevant regulations and procedural information. In addition, the GMAA organises information and training events on arbitration, mediation, arbitrator's reports and conciliation.
Under "About the GMAA" you will find general information on the GMAA. Some information is only available to GMAA members, who have to register (see "Login/Logout") to access the respective pages.
A first overview of the GMAA in different languages can be found here.
If you have any further questions about the GMAA, please do not hesitate to contact the GMAA Secretariat or the Executive Board.
How it all began
Shipping merchants and lawyers specialising in maritime law from Hamburg and Bremen founded the GMAA in 1983. They wanted to offer maritime shipping an inexpensive and effective alternative to foreign arbitration courts. In addition, the GMAA founders pursued the goal of promoting maritime arbitration in the seaport cities of Hamburg and Bremen both nationally and internationally. The GMAA's easy-to-understand arbitration rules and its favourable scale of fees, which were adopted at the same time, were intended to contribute to this.
After the GMAA quickly gained a good reputation in the German market and was thus able to establish itself as an attractive forum for dispute resolution, its acceptance also spread internationally. In 1989, the GMAA hosted the IX International Congress of Maritime Arbitrators (ICMA IX) in Hamburg, which was attended by 250 maritime arbitrators from 32 countries. This was followed by delegation trips to many, mostly European countries, where the advantages of German maritime arbitration were presented. In 2009, the GMAA again hosted ICMA XVII. 80 speakers from all over the world gave lectures on a wide variety of topics in the fields of maritime and arbitration law in 20 different sessions.
The chairmen of the GMAA so far have been:
1983 - 1986 Enno Jäger
1987 - 1995 Hartmut von Brevern
1966 - 2001 Dr. Peter Holtappels
2002 - 2010 Dr. Friedrich Strube
2011 - 2019 Jan Wölper
since 2019 Gregor Harbs
Executive Board
The Executive Board can also be contacted via the secretariat by (E-Mail) at any time.
GMAA 40
The GMAA founded GMAA 40 in 2010 as a forum for younger people from the legal profession and maritime practice who have a connection to arbitration. It meets regularly through events and panel discussions on topics related to maritime arbitration and maritime practice.
The aim of GMAA 40 is to promote the exchange of information and experience, to build professional networks and to develop new perspectives for maritime arbitration.
Participation in the GMAA 40 events is open to all interested persons, regardless of whether they are lawyers, nautical professionals or otherwise connected with the maritime industry, up to the age of about 40. Membership of the GMAA is not required.
In the tradition of the GMAA, which was founded in 1983 by maritime lawyers and representatives of the maritime industry from Hamburg and Bremen, the GMAA 40 is regularly present at both locations. In addition, events are occasionally held elsewhere - in and outside Germany.
In principle, there is one event per quarter. There is no fixed venue.
The GMAA 40 Coordinators
Who can I contact if I have questions about the GMAA 40?
Jakob Haas
Co-Coordinator