BIMCO Chooses Dubai as Venue for 2014 Annual Conference and Awards

The highly influential and largest private international shipping association Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO) has chosen Dubai as the venue for its Annual Conference and Awards this year, to be held on the 29 April 2014.

More than 400 shipping industry leaders from the region and the world’s shipping centres will gather for this important conference where the focus will be on handling maritime disasters and on regulatory changes impacting ship owners and the industry.

His Excellency Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Chairman of DP World, will open the conference.

The conference will be in two tracks:

1. Legal Track: A role playing exercise on resolving a maritime casualty – the mess, the media and the mediators

A complex role-playing exercise of a simulated maritime casualty, with audience participation. Those involved include ship owners, the legal fraternity, industry insurers, arbitrators and the media.

2. Technical Track: Upcoming regulatory requirements

Never have regulatory changes been more challenging for ship owners than those coming into force over the next decade, and many are focused on mitigating the impact the shipping industry has on the environment, both air and oceans.

Angus Frew, Secretary General and CEO of BIMCO, said: “At our conference we are tackling two large and important issues facing our industry.

“Through the muddle and confusion that immediately follows a maritime casualty – a grounding, a collision or even a total loss – the ship owner must think clearly and tread carefully, looking after the welfare of the crew and minimising damage to the environment. In this role-playing exercise we will explore in a practical way how to handle such a crisis.

“Importantly, this experience will involve the audience at each stage as the story unfolds. Armed with an interactive voting meter, each member of the audience will be asked what they would do next and help determine the outcome of the event.”

Mr. Frew added: “Regulations around ballast water and emissions are fast approaching and everyone in our industry is worrying about the implications and the options. This may be the biggest game-changer for the industry since the end of the sailing era over 100 years ago.

“The session on the new regulations will elaborate on the concepts of multi-fuelled ships, availability and effectiveness of technologies for cleaning emissions and waste water, and the practicalities of using LNG.”

The conference concludes with the BIMCO Awards Gala Dinner on the evening of 29 April 2014, where the highlight will be the presentation of the prestigious BIMCO Awards to shipping companies and individuals who have excelled in areas reflecting BIMCO’s global activities. The nominations come from the BIMCO members, but the winners can be any company or individual that has excelled within the category.

[mappress]

BIMCO, March 4, 2014