Middle East Maritime Talks Emissions
Fuel, emissions and green technology is one of the crucial areas to come under discussion at one of the conferences that will take place alongside Seatrade Middle East Maritime 2008.
Like other industries globally, shipping is facing increasingly tough international challenges to achieve emission reductions. Det Norske Veritas, one of Seatrade Middle East Martime's principal sponsors, believe that carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced by as much as 30–50% by actions taken on existing vessels now and for new buildings prior to 2030.
The region is playing an increasingly important role in world shipping with the now one of the most active international maritime centres in the world. As well as being pivotal in global energy-related transport, economic growth across the region is driving record volumes of containers and increasing bulk cargo.
The conferences alongside Seatrade Middle East Maritime are designed to examine the implications of this upsurge both for the region and for trading partners around the world.
The Middle East Money and Ships conference (December 14-16) will examine the state of the industry across the region with a keynote address by General Sharafuddin Sharaf, President of the United Arab Emirates Ship Owners Association. Other crucial topics to be debated will be energy and dry bulk transportation; shipbuilding and repair; finance for shipping; fuel, emissions and green technology; port construction and development; and the challenges of recruitment, training and retention of crews.
With more than 200,000 cruise passengers expected to visit Dubai this year, the sixth Seatrade Middle East Cruise Conference (15 December) will examine the growing importance of cruise tourism as more countries follow Dubai's lead. The potential for growth in ports and destinations throughout the region will be assessed.
In addition, with the Gulf region becoming one of the biggest concentrations of luxury private marine activity, there will also be a Superyacht Solutions Conference (16 December). The conference will assess the demand for superyachts across the region as well as current and future marina demand and availability.
The Seatrade Middle East Maritime exhibition and conferences are held every two years. In 2006 the event was the biggest yet notching up record attendance of 6,000 trade participants from 63 countries - 45% from outside the region.
Principal sponsors of Seatrade Middle East Maritime 2008 include GEM, Det Norske Veritas, , NITC and Gulf Marine. Other sponsors are: ABS, BP Marine, ClassNK, Drydocks World, Emarat Maritime, Ince Al Jallaf & Co, Lloyd's Register, Nico International, Rais Hassan Saadi Group, SAIFEE Trading and Sea Cloud Cruises.
The event is supported by Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, DP World, Dubai Shipping Agents Association, Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, the International Association of Ports and Harbours, the Nautical Institute, the Royal Institute of Naval Architects, ImarEST, and the UAE Ship Owners Association.
