It was in 1992, on the initiative of the Union des Océanographes de France, that a first contact was made with three European associations:

• The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Meeresforschung (DGM),
• the Challenger Society for Marine Science (CSMS) and
• Associazione Italiana di Oceanografia E Limnologia (AIOL),

on the occasion of the UOF annual scientific meeting. At the end of this meeting the participants had confirmed the necessity to develop their relationship and exchange informations (journal, bulletins, etc...).

A contact with the DG XII of the European Commission received a favorable response on this initiative. Preliminary details of the project were circulated during the MAST days in Brussels in 1993.

Two years later, the Challenger Society proposed to the various associations a charter for European marine science organizations. This was ratified by UOF during its general Assembly, and the idea of a federation was thus launched. In 1996 the CSMS invited European scientists to its biennal conference in Bangor at which there were discussions between the CSMS and DGM which led to an agreement on supporting the development of a federation. In spite of continued regular exchanges of information it was not until September of 1997 at the general Assembly of the DGM, in Hamburg to which the UOF and the Challenger Society were invited, that further progress was made. During that meeting , it was agreed to launch the new European Federation of Marine Science and Technology Societies in 1998, appropriately designated the UN Year of the  Ocean. Further meetings to discuss statutes were held in Paris and at Boulogne-sur-Mer, and the concept of a Federation was advertised to the participants of MAST days in Lisbon, in 1998.