Mersey Maritime is bidding for the first-ever international maritime conference to be held in Liverpool, which wil coincide with the Mersey River Festival in 2004 or 2005.
The announcement was made as this year's Mersey River Festival gets underway with the arrival of the Tall Ships into the port of Liverpool and Capital of Culture plans are unveiled for a new £10.5 million cruise liner terminal to be in place by 2005.
Mersey Maritime, the new organization, plans to create a two-day conference, trade fair and exhibition and dinner, aimed at creating an international focus on the region's maritime sector and it's contribution to regeneration.
Negotiations are currently underway with a number of international maritime conference specialists.
It is planned that the event will include international speakers ranging from political leaders, civic groups and architects through to investors, planners and developers from other global success stories such as Bilbao.