London shipping week draws more interest

YET again, this year's Singapore Shipping Week, some three months ago now, was an outstanding success. Focusing many activities into a short space of time to celebrate the maritime industries, and to contribute significantly to the sector's continued development, clearly works.

There are certainly very successful "stand-alone" shipping events , following in the steps of Posidonia. Among them are the recently held Nor-Shipping and, of course, Singapore's long-established Asia Pacific Maritime which returns next March.

Nevertheless, clustering conferences and maritime-related events does appear to work well.

They say imitation is the best form of flattery. London, which had lacked a really big shipping event for some years, held its first International Shipping Week two years ago. To the surprise of many, including your correspondent, it was a runaway success.

This year's event, in September, seems to have attracted even more interest. The organisers have recently announced that Singapore Minister for Transport Lui Tuck Yew has confirmed that he would speak at the main LISW15 Conference on Sept 10 at the Grosvenor House Hotel on London's Park Lane.

Mr Lui will speak during the session on "National, Supranational and Global Governance - The role of governments in a global maritime industry: Should governments lend their support and how can they participate in growing their domestic sectors? How can tensions between national, regional and global priorities be resolved?"

Those are areas that Singapore has considerable expertise in and it is a sign of the country's development into a key global maritime hub that LISW was so keen to invite Mr Lui.

Jeremy Penn, CEO of The Baltic Exchange and chairman of the LISW15 steering group, said: "We are thrilled to be getting such tremendous support internationally. We very much look forward to welcoming Singapore's Minister for Transport to LISW15 and are pleased that he is able to join us. His contribution will strengthen the debate in this important session."

Part of the success of LISW is down to it coinciding with a long-standing shipping event, run by the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), which always draws high level participants,

The ICS International Shipping Conference is one of the principal events during LISW and the shipowners' body has just announced its final programme, with high-profile speakers from across the global industry.

The 2015 ICS Conference, to be held at the British Library, London, on Sept 9, will open with keynote speeches from Internatioanl Maritime Organization secretary-general Koji Sekimizu, US maritime administrator Paul Jaenichen, and the administrators of both the Panama and Suez Canals, Jorge Quijano and Mohab Mameesh.

This will be followed by a discussion of future trade patterns led by The Economist magazine's Intelligence Unit and special guest speaker Carl Johan Hagman, CEO of Stena Line, who will speak on the future of marine fuels.

ICS chairman Masamichi Morooka will chair the proceedings, which will also cover the implications of major environmental regulations the migrant rescue crisis; piracy; and the employment of women in shipping.

These sessions will feature two ICS vice-chairmen, Karin Orsel from the Netherlands and Singapore's Esben Poulsson.

Unfortunately for Singaporean visitors to LISW, there is a triple clash in the afternoon as the International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) is running two forums side by side at the Baltic Exchange. Both should attract strong interest. "Bunkering with New Fuels - Building on strong foundations" is highly topical while "The cost of failure" showcases the perspectives of an insurer, shipowner, lawyer, supplier and an analyst.

Your correspondent will do his best to be in three places at the same time.