Theodoros Vokos: «The dynamics of Posidonia derive from the quality and prestige of exhibitors and visitors»

Naftika Chronika, May 15, 2018

It seems that this year’s Posidonia will have a record number of participations. Four months ahead of the opening bookings of exhibition spaces were already 10% more than the previous fair and more than 90% of the space had already been booked. The organizeρs are talking about more than 1,850 companies wanting to present their products and services at this year’s Poseidonia and more than 22.000 visitors are expected.

“The dynamism of Posidonia is the result of the quality and prestige of the exhibitors and the visitors, who every two years devote important resources, precious time and manpower in order to participate in the landmark-fair that brings together the entire global maritime industry’, stressed Theodoros Vokos, executive manages of Posidonia Exhibitions SA, the organizer of this biennial exhibition.

‘The main attraction at each Posidonia Exhibition remains the strong presence of the Greek shipping community which us the leader in the global shipping activity, with 61 Greek corporations having made ordered ships of a total value of more than $ 16 billion”, Mr Vokos added.

It is worth noting that at the beginning of 2018 there were more than 260 orders for building ships by companies of Greek interest, of the highest standards, with 105 of these orders made in 2107. These ships comply with the new Tier II and Tier III regulations that ensure that the Greek-owned fleet will be the most advanced globally and will comply with the new environmental regulations, something that has been a priority for Greek ship-owners. This mobility is the result of the need to comply with new regulations, such as the recently approved international convention on ballast and the regulations regarding Sox and NOx emissions and the demands for MRV procedures (Monitoring, Reporting and Verification), that have accelerated investments in ships that have the capacity to move on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and the digitalization of ship operations.

This wave of orders for ship-building and for the upgrading of the fleet attracts the global marine industry at Posidonia 2018, with the participation of both previous and new exhibitors exceeding any precedent.

Once again the exhibition of the Posidonia will be occupied by around 20 national pavilions and in particular those of the leading shipping States, with dominant the traditional Houses of the Far East, Japan, South Korea and China. Shipping centers such as Hong-Kong, Singapore, Dubai and many other will once again present their wide range of services, whereas traditional exhibitors such as the US, the United Kingdom, Denmark and Holland will have a stronger presence than previous years. However, national participations are not limited to the traditional maritime States, since this year Posidonia also welcome new players such as Luxembourg and Georgia. Poland will also for the first time participate with a national pavilion. Moreover, most of the ‘flag’ states will also be present at Posidonia with Panama, Liberia, Marshall Islands, Malta, Cyprus, Bahamas, Cayman Islands and Palau, among other, returning once again to the big meeting point of the global shipping industry.

Among the participants that will make a difference this year we have the pavilion of the Hellenic Marine Equipment Manufacturers and Exporters (HEMEXPO), which will take upo more than 400 sq. m. of exhibition space, aiming at promoting Greek expertise and specialized solutions for the global  marine industry and at adding more Greek products to makers lists of the biggest shipyards globally. Greek presence also includes a second pavilion that of the Worldwide Industrial & Marine Association (WIMA), which represents Greek companies active in ship-building, repair parts and supplies, ship’s general and technical services and the manufacture of marine equipment

Another important participation will be than of the Greek utility Gastrade, with the support of Gaslog Ltd, which will undertake the construction of the Alexandroupoli Independent Natural Gas System, a modern, cutting edge technology project which comprises an offshore floating unit for the reception, storage and re-gasification of LNG and a system of a subsea and an onshore gas transmission pipeline through which the natural gas is shipped into the Greek National Natural Gas System (NNGS) and onwards to the final consumers.

Moreover, the state oil company of Saudi Arabia  Aramco, in cooperation with Lamprell, National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) and Hyundai Heavy Industries, has chosen Posidonia 2018 to present to the global maritime community the της International Maritime Industries (IMI) joint venture , which was created to develop one of the biggest integrated maritime yards which includes a new shipyard that aims at the off-shore market.  The new joint venture has already received orders for more than 20 off-shore platforms and for 52 ships to be completed within the next decade.

And as oil continues to be the main fuel for the global movement of mankind, digital data become the ‘new oil’ as a brave new world emerges where artificial intelligence and ‘smart’ shipping will dominate the scene. The trend toward digitalization, the needs for ‘smart’ shipping solutions and the increased demand for permanent fleet connectivity had led to a impressive opening of Posidonia towards the information and communication technology sector, with more than 30 companies planning to participate, in their attempt to get a bigger ‘slice’ of the constantly increasing technological demands of the most advanced fleet in the history of humanity.

Regarding the conference program, this has already been prepated to a large extent and covers all issues of interest for the marine industry. Once again there will be more than 30 conferences, product presentations, technical seminars and press conferences – all at the Metropolitan Expo exhibition center. The conference program will be inaugurated by the Treawinds Shipowners Forum, in the context of which all current important issues of if the global shipping industry will be discussed, A new and important event will be the Support The Local Maritime Industry Summit, with the support of HEMEXPO and organized by Newsfront / Nautiliaki which will take place under the aegis of the Greek Marine Technical Managers Association (MARTECMA), which will offer the opportunity to Greek maritime companies to get acquainted with the high quality products and services of HEMEXPO. This conference will give maritime companies the opportunity to decide on future investment and this will further promote the Greek maritime cluster, which is expected to contribute increasingly to the Greece’s GDP.

Finally, a new addition to the conference and seminar program of Posidonia is the 4^th Energy and Shipping Seminar that is organized by the South East Europe Energy Institute (IENE), in the context of which there is going to be in depth analysis of global markets for oil and natural gas and the factors determining the correlation between energy transports and shipping.

The Posidonia Exhibition is under the aegis of the Ministry of Shipping and Island Policy, the Greek Union of Shipowners with the support of the Municipality of Piraeus and the London Greek Shipping Cooperation Committee.

Naftika Chronika and the education initiative Isalos.net will once again be part of the leading Maritime Exhibition Posidonia 2018, pavilion 3.131/13.