Major maritime event opens in Dubai tomorrow

October 31, 2016 - International and regional shipping operators, ports, financiers and other maritime professionals will gather in Dubai today for the eighth biennial edition of Seatrade Maritime Middle East (SMME). Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, UAE, and part of Dubai Maritime Week, the three-day exhibition and conference, now in its eighth edition, returns to the Dubai International Conference & Exhibition Centre to welcome the region’s largest gathering of shipping and maritime industry decision makers with almost 7,000 participants from 69 countries expected to attend. “In the two years since our last event, global trade movement has faced increasingly challenging economic pressures, and the international maritime industry continues to be impacted by future oil price forecasts, the state of the Middle East economy in general and the effect of the Chinese trade slowdown - the timing of this year’s event couldn't be more pertinent,” said Emma Howell, Group Marketing Manager, Seatrade. This year’s interactive conference programme will once again bring together a panel of maritime industry leaders, influential economists and shipping analysts for an in-depth analysis of where the current industry status quo, and will also examine regional industry opportunities, along with a series of presentations and ground-breaking case studies on key maritime projects, including Egypt’s Suez Canal expansion, and schedule of educational technical forums. The opening economic forum session on the first morning will be chaired by well-known moderator and broadcast journalist, Eithne Treanor, and features a high profile panel line-up that will set the scene for three days of successful conference discussion. Panelists include Abdulrahman Essa Al-Mannai, President & CEO, Milaha; Marcus Machin, CEO, Tufton Oceanic Finance Group; Admiral Mohab Mohamed Mameesh, Chairman & MD, Suez Canal Authority; Tim Power, MD, Drewry and Tim Fox, Head of Research and Chief Economist at Emirates NBD. Day two of the event (Tuesday 1 November) presents an action-packed schedule, opening with the Seatrade Tanker conference at which a number of the industry’s most respected experts led by Katharina Stanzel, Managing Director, Intertanko, will engage in a Middle East-focused discussion on the crude oil tanker market and product tanker trading. The half-day session will cover supply growth patterns, demand influencers and a prognosis of potential future earnings, taking into consideration factors such as trade and ton-mile configurations and order book volume; as well as an analysis of the factors influencing and driving product tanker demand.