When NorShipping 2009 closed on June 12, the organized had claimed a record numbers of visitors; a total of 15,999, along with a total of 17,780 exhibitor representatives (1105 exhibitors from 52 countries). Given the current status of the world economy and the prospects for a protracted recovery, it is a testament to the brand built in Oslo that NorShipping could command an increase in traffic of 15% versus 2007. “We believed that the market downturn would lead the maritime industry to think again how it reaches out to the market,” said Tollef Schiander, Director for NorShipping. “Companies concentrate their resources on those activities and marketplaces that get results. This year’s Nor-Shipping was more popular than ever. In a time of crisis, the market came here to rally, based on visitor and exhibitor figures.”
At NorShipping’s Leading Voices conference that opened Nor-Shipping 2009 on Tuesday, June 9, several industry leaders, including IMO Secretary-General Efthimios Mitropoulos, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Chairman and CEO Richard Fain and Wilh. Wilhelmsen ASA CEO Ingar Skaug, discussed shipping’s role in the fight against climate change.
At the conference, the Heyerdahl Award winner was announced: Farstad Shipping ASA won, based on its latest newbuildings Far Samson and Far Serenade. The first-ever Clean Shipping awards went to RCCL’s Save the Waves programme (the Clean Sea Award), Teekay Corporation’s Amundsen Spirit (the Clean Air Award) and Stena Bulk’s EMAXair concept (the Clean Innovation Award).