Bahamas Participates in Posidonia Shipping Industry Conference

Graham Thompson Partner, Michelle Pindling-Sands, the Firm’s leading expert in shipping finance, attended Posidonia 2016 in Greece, during June 2016, as part of the Bahamian Delegation.  Michelle attended numerous lectures and returned to Nassau with a wealth of knowledge about international shipping opportunities for the Bahamas.

 

 

A summary of the event, from Posidonia’s organizers, follows:

Posidonia has received overwhelming praise from exhibitors and visitors who unanimously agree that this year’s edition of the world’s most prestigious maritime event has also been the most distinguished in the show’s ­ve-decade long history.

Having set new records in terms of exhibitor space, size of conference programme and number of visitors, Posidonia 2016 also managed to impress shipping industry executives, analysts and media for the look and feel of the exhibition’s displays, the relevance of conference content and quality of visitors and delegates who converged to the Athens Metropolitan Expo from all over the world.

In total, 1,825 exhibiting companies from 90 countries and territories and 19 national pavilions welcomed 22.366 visitors from over 95 countries to their stands. “We always strive to make the best even better by constantly reinventing the overall offering of Posidonia, seeking to further improve and if possible perfect the experience on and o the main venue of the exhibition,” said Theodore Vokos, Executive Director, Posidonia Exhibitions S.A, the organisers of the event. “Through the years we have made signi­cant enhancements to the main event and the parallel social and sporting networking programme as we endeavor to keep Posidonia fresh, relevant, contemporary, responsive to exhibitors’ and visitors’ demands. But above all we strive to maintain its authoritative aura in line with its reputation as the most prestigious, agenda-setting maritime event that is always ahead of developments.”

This growing reputation as the must-attend global maritime affair is likely to be augmented in two years from now as forward demand for floor space indicates that when the next Posidonia exhibition opens its doors on June 4th 2018, it will be deployed across the full 45,000 square meters of the Athens Metropolitan Expo, utilizing all of the venue’s available space. Posidonia’s long standing relationship with the Greek shipping community is one of the reasons for the brand’s resonance in every part of the world, wherever maritime and shipping professionals ply their trades while aspiring to conduct business with the owners of the most expansive and entrepreneurial ocean going merchant fleet, the largest in terms of tonnage.

According to Zhang Xinyu, China State Shipbuilding Corporation, Posidonia 2016 was very big and stands at the highest level compared to the biggest international maritime events. “Since we are the top corporation of our sector in China, our presence at Posidonia aimed at strengthening our influence in the global market and in Europe and Greece particularly, because the Greek market is important for us, as is the European market as a whole. Posidonia is always a good platform for new business opportunities.

The high quality of visitors was yet another positive highlight of this year’s Posidonia according to most exhibitors. Thorstein Franche, Global Industry Director, Marine Division, Krohne Marine, had this to say: “The exhibition is splendid! Everything is very well organised, the venue is great and so are the stands. We are very satisfi­ed. The attendance was very high this year. We were very happy to see more people visiting our stand, but also people more focused on our industry. We had the opportunity of quite a few good meetings and I am sure that the follow up will lead to some good deals.”

Dr. Vassilios Mamaloukas-Frangoulis, Director, Marine Environment Protection seems to agree: “The number of visitors was higher this year, but also the quality of the visitors seems to get better by the years and this is very important.”

Posidonia has also developed a strong reputation as a forum where crucial discussions, debates and deliberations on issues and regulations aaffecting the global maritime industry take place between policy makers, government officials and captains of industry and this was reflected in this year’s event with the high pro­le visits of IMO Secretary General Kitack Lim and European Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc in addition to Greek and international heads of state.

This aspect of the event didn’t go unnoticed from exhibitor Stefano Lavezzaro, Vice President Service Sales – Merchant, Marine Services – Europe & Africa for Rolls-Royce who said: “This year’s organisation is even better, with more exhibitors, conferences and seminars. There is much more brie­fing for the industry. And you can also feel the optimism by walking through the exhibition.”

Indeed, Posidonia is a global maritime industry bellwether that captures the mood of the moment while outlining the future trends that are likely to shape developments in the world’s most vital industry which account for the transportation of 90 percent of world trade.

Posidonia 2018 will be held from 4 to 8 June 2018 at the Athens Metropolitan Expo.