BIGGEST EVER POSIDONIA SAILS FOR NEW RECORDS
1/6/2006
OVER 16.000 VISITORS FROM 80 COUNTRIES EXPECTED TO CONVERGE TO GREECE FOR WORLD’S BENCHMARK SHIPPING EVENT
Athens, Thursday 1st June, 2006. The biggest ever Posidonia event in terms of exhibition space gets under way on Monday as the global maritime community casts its eyes on Greece again this June, for the 20th edition of the world’s most prestigious shipping event.
1581 exhibitors from 78 countries will participate at Posidonia 2006, as the five-day biennial event kicks off on June 5th at the Hellenikon Exhibition Centre (HEC), at the site of the former Athens International Airport, for the first time in the show’s 37-year-long history.
Exhibitors come from the full spectrum of shipping and vertical sectors including shipbuilding and repairyards, shipbrokers, insurance, P&I Clubs, banks, port authorities, classification societies, shipping surveyors, vessel registration, suppliers, high-tech equipment, technical support, publishing companies etc.
Major first-time exhibitors include the Japanese Marine Equipment Association (JSMEA), Dubai Maritime City, Atlas Copco Greece, Gnomon Marine, the Irish Maritime Development Office, Flanders Investment & Trade from Belgium, Vivodi Telecom, MEK Ltd and Thrustmaster of Texas. Equally significant is the return to the show of Panama’s national pavilion, following a two year absence from Posidonia and the strong participation from the Greek shipyards, including Elefisis Shipyards, Neorion Syros Shipyards, Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems - Hellenic Shipyards S.A and Chalkis Shipyards.
The event’s organisers expect more than 16,000 visitors to attend the event until the final day of June 9th, with at least 3,000 of them coming from the international shipping community.
“The diversity and multi-ethnicity of the exhibitors’ and visitors’ profile are in the very fabric of Posidonia as the show has grown to become a benchmark of the global shipping industry,” said Themistocles Vokos, Chairman, Posidonia Exhibitions S.A., the organiser of the event. “This year we expect visitors from more than 80 countries as the show has attracted participants from 11 countries and territories exhibiting at Posidonia for the first time.”
A total of 25 countries will field stand alone national pavilions, including Posidonia debuts for Australia, Belgium, Ireland and Italy. National pavilions are also reserved for Austria, Belize, Cayman Islands, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Japan, Liberia, Malta, The Netherlands, Panama, The Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom and the USA.
“Posidonia is an indispensable component of world shipping, the leading trade event that sets the pace in the multi-billion dollar maritime industry, contributes to the world shipping agenda and helps shape the sector’s future trends,” said Mr Vokos.
“The show’s continuous growth and record-setting capacity, is the result of Posidonia’s strong brand awareness, the event’s location at the world’s leading maritime nation and its pedigree as a forum where serious business is conducted.
“The global shipping community’s strong interest in Posidonia is also linked to the renewal programme of the Greek shipping industry, which is implementing an investment strategy aimed at decreasing the average age of its fleet standing today at 15.3 years,” said Mr. Vokos. “There are currently 364 ships on order for Greek account,” he added.
A 100-seat seminar room is available to all exhibitors within the HEC to facilitate seminars, workshops and press conferences. Some major announcements are anticipated during the show as the world’s biggest shipping registers, including Lloyd's Register, DNV and Germanischer Lloyd, have already scheduled press conferences for Tuesday, June 6th.
Nearly 300 Greek and international journalists have registered for the event representing the full spectrum of the world’s shipping specialist media as well as major global news agencies including Reuters, Bloomberg and Dow Jones Newswires.
Posidonia 2006 is sponsored by the Greek Ministry of Mercantile Marine, the Greek Ministry of the Aegean, the Municipality of Piraeus, the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping, the Union of Greek Shipowners, the Greek Shipping Co-operation Committee, the Union of Shipowners of Mediterranean Cargo Vessels, the Greek Association of Passenger Ship Companies and the Association of Greek Passenger Shipping Companies.
Posidonia Events / Posidonia Exhibition