Final countdown begins to London International Shipping Week

“I am confident that this will be the maritime event of 2015 and an excellent opportunity for industry and Government to showcase the UK’s thriving maritime and marine industries and how we are, together, planning for the future,” UK Minister for Shipping and Ports Robert Goodwill said.

One early highlight of the week is likely to prove a high-level meeting on shipping policy at No. 10 Downing Street, expected to be chaired by Prime Minister David Cameron. Separately the event’s Patron HRH The Princess Royal will be Guest of Honour at the LISW Welcome Reception.

Major set-piece conferences taking place during the week include the 2^nd annual International Shipowning & Shipmanagement Summit taking place on the Tuesday; Maritime London’s “One Belt, One Road: China’s Development Strategy”seminar, and the International Chamber of Shipping’s annual conference, both on the Wednesday; and the official LISW conference followed by Gala Dinner on the Thursday.

Seatrade Maritime News journalists will be reporting from all of the above conferences, and other events, during the week.

A definite trend of this year’s LISW will be its international dimension. Maritime authorities from Singapore, Vancouver, the Bahamas, Isle of Man and Gibraltar are all due to make presentations, while other international bodies also holding events during the week include Bimco, ECSA, IBIA and Intertanko.

Topical subjects to be addressed in dedicated seminars during the week include LNG and other new fuel bunkering, ballast water, Arctic shipping, oil prices and freight rate volatility, piracy in Nigeria, and emerging security threats in the Mediterranean and Red Sea.

Various reports on the state of the UK maritime industries are also due to be unveiled, including the eagerly awaited conclusions of a Maritime Growth Study that will frame the UK’s maritime industry’s recommendations to Government on matters of future shipping policy. For further detail on this see Seatrade Maritime Review article which you read here.