2nd Asian Marine Casualty Forum Launched

Following the success of the inaugural Asian Marine Casualty Forum (AMCF) in 2015 and by popular demand, the bi-annual industry forum aimed at addressing the current crises in maritime casualty management, is back for the second time running and officially launched in Singapore today. The much welcomed not-for–profit event with its“arranged by the industry for the industry” feature remains and already, sponsorship response has been well beyond expectations.

LOC Group (LOC), the leading international maritime consultancy group, will once again be hosting the forum, a cornerstone event of the forthcoming Singapore Maritime Week (22-28 April 2017) – which gathers the international maritime community in Singapore for a week-long of conferences, dialogues, exhibitions and social events in celebration of the maritime industry.

Taking place on Thursday and Friday, 27 and 28 April 2017 at centrally locatedRaffles City Convention Centre (RCCC), the two-day forum welcomes global industry leaders from all parties involved in marine casualties. Invitations have been extended to many of the world’s leading marine insurers, salvage contractors, law firms as well as ship owners and government representatives.

With more than 250 senior shipping and insurance professionals expected to attend, the theme for the 2nd AMCF is‘Risks, Rewards, Response & Results in the Life and Time of a Casualty – The Industry Debates’.  Industry leaderswill be sharing insights and outlook on the most topical issues of wreck removal and salvage in the shipping industry.

Early supporters include International Group (IG Group) of P&I Clubs, International Salvage Union (ISU), Singapore Shipowners Association (SSA), Singapore Chamber of Maritime Arbitration (SCMA), the Baltic Exchange, International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI), International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF), NUS Centre for Maritime Law and the UK Nautical Institute.The forum aims to raise the standards of the industry further, boost cross-industry cooperation, and reduce the risks and challenges involved in future major salvage operations.

With a mix of formal presentations, group discussion and informal interaction, topics to be discussedwill include:

Day One:
-    Risk Assessment of Marine Casualties – touching on the assessment of risk with wreck removal operations, impact of risk on reward, andcasualty risk assessment impact
-    Challenges Facing Salvage Industry – highlighting industry responses such asthe future of Lloyd’s Open Form (LOF), and an update on the state of salvors
-    Project Management – Critical Factor of Wreck Removal Operations – a critical look at project management of wreck removal;
-    The changing world fleet and the impact on risk and casualties

Day Two:
-    Safe Havens – A Global Perspective – considering thepotential for regional cooperation between SE Asian States, the EU initiative and the global progress with places of refuge
-    Mutual Cooperation in Casualty Management – noting the progress with IG initiative ‘outreach’ and whether challenging the authorities is a high-riskstrategy

Expressing aims of AMCF 2017, Nick Haslam, Shipping Director of LOC Group said, “We have made the decision to host AMCF for the industry once again after witnessing the heartening success of the first one in 2015 and receiving so many requests from the industry. We are confident and hopeful that with every AMCF, and the specific attention we are giving to the maritime industry,they will bring about improvements and a better understanding of the many issues facing theindustry that have become critical.”

The line-up of speakers and a detailed programme will be announced and released later, in January 2017.