(openPR) - Premier business leaders to debate the Asian Voice in World Shipping at key maritime event in Singapore, SEA ASIA
Market throws weight behind SEA ASIA where over 12,000 maritime professionals and decision-makers are expected to congregate

Singapore, Tuesday December 21, 2010

Release: Immediate

Key players representing major maritime sectors will unite in Singapore for three days next April from 12th to 14th to project The Asian Voice in World Shipping.

The central theme of SEA ASIA, the region’s leading maritime event, the Asian Voice is to be debated by top executives of leading international companies from China, India, Japan and Singapore among others as they tackle this challenging subject.

“Over 50% of the world fleet is being owned and operated in Asia and 85% of global shipbuilding capacity based in the region. The Asian maritime players play a vital role in global shipping and Sea Asia’s aim is to reflect that and discuss ways in which Asia can ensure that its voice is heard clearly and coherently on the global stage,” said Christopher Hayman, Chairman of co-organiser Seatrade.

The first day of SEA ASIA’s conference (12th April) will focus on the central theme, The Asian Voice in World Shipping, with the first session on Container Shipping & Logistics and the second on the Major Bulk Trades.

Pacific International Lines’ (PIL) MD and President of the Singapore Shipping Association, S.S.Teo, will chair the container and logistics session, which explores the scale and rate of the economic recovery and its implications for both container operators and cargo interests in international and intra-Asian trades. Speakers for this session will include APL’s President Eng Aik Meng, “K” Line’s President and CEO Kenichi Kuroya, Maersk Line and the Container Business’ CEO Eivind Kolding, SK Shipping’s CEO Dr Kyuho Wang, SITC International Holdings Company’s Chairman and Executive Director Yang Shaopeng, and Wan Hai Lines’ Special Assistant to the President Randy Chen.

Yudhishthir Khatau, Vice Chairman and MD of India’s Varun Shipping, also President Designate of the Baltic & International Maritime Council (BIMCO), will chair the session on major bulk trades, examining prospects for dry and liquid bulk trades in light of recovery-led growth vis-à-vis demand, and an expanding fleet. Speakers for this session will include TCC Group’s Group Chairman and CEO Kenneth Koo, among others.

The second day of SEA ASIA (13th April) will deal with ship finance, cardinal aspects of the LNG market and other wide-ranging technical issues.

Two sessions on ship finance will run during the day, the first on the Global Ship Finance Market and the State of the Shipping Industry. This will be chaired by Harald Serck-Hanssen, Global Head of Shipping, Offshore and Logistics at DnB NOR ASA, with key leaders from other banks including Standard Chartered Bank and DVB Bank SE focusing on supply/demand for the major sectors, making sense of the orderbook and scale of cancellations and deferrals, and looking at changing trends in traditional relationships in shipping, and the move by pure charterers into ship owning. Continued momentum of the offshore sector will also be on the agenda.

The second session will address Alternative Instruments of Ship Finance. Chaired by Philip Clausius, President and CEO of FSL Trust Management, speakers including Eton Park Capital Management’s Senior MD and Partner Andreas Beroutsos, Seaspan Corporation’s Director and Tiger Group’s Chairman Graham Porter as well as Delphin Shipping’s President Andreas B. Polvsen will assess the availability and cost of finance for shipping in Asia, the expanding shipping portfolio of the Chinese banks, equity and the capital markets, alternative sources of capital (including hedge funds), and private equity and Asian family funds.

LNG Activities in the Far East will also be debated in a parallel session that day, chaired by the Society of International Tanker and Terminal Operators’ (SIGTTO) Principal Technical Advisor, Roger Roue. Presentations will include Coal bed methane projects in Queensland (LNG Limited), LNGC ship repair (Sembawang Shipyard), and Fibre-optic ship-to-shore links for ESD systems (NFI Limited).

The second day is also designated Technical Day and will feature two sessions addressing Regulations, Rules and Legislation (with opening remarks by Ueda Noburu, Chairman and President of Japan’s Class NK, also Chairman of IACS Council), and Sustainable Approaches to Technology – featuring a new presentation from Siemens on the benefits and paybacks of green ship technology, among others. There will also be an open-floor debate on HazId/HazOp: prescriptive versus qualitative.

The last day of SEA ASIA (14th April) will be dominated by the offshore & energy sector, with sessions on Drivers of the Offshore Industry in Asia and the Interface with the Asian Maritime Sector. The first, debating China’s exploration and production strategy, the extent of India’s offshore commitment to meets its energy needs, and subjects under the broad umbrella of offshore drilling, will be chaired by BW Maritime, Group CEO, Andreas Sohmen-Pao. The second, which will look closely at opportunities created in and for Asia’s maritime sector by the offshore energy industry, will be chaired by CH Tong, CEO of Keppel Offshore & Marine.

As SEA ASIA delivers a siren call to the international maritime community, now recovering from the global economic crisis, Seatrade and co-organising partner, Singapore Maritime Foundation (SMF) have reported satisfaction with the event’s continued growth and reputation – not only as a platform for the exchange of knowledge and opinion, but as a recovery tool for sales and marketing teams seeking to expand customer bases.

More than 80% of the exhibition space has already been booked by over 200 companies from close to 40 countries, and the organisers confidently expect to surpass the numbers of the last SEA ASIA, when over 10,000 executives from 62 countries came for the three-day event. The three-day event at Marina Bay Sands is expected to host over 12,000 participants. SEA ASIA 2011 is principally sponsored by DnB NOR Bank ASA, Executive Ship Management, Lloyd’s Register, NOL Group and RightShip. Other sponsors include ABB Pte. Ltd., ABS, Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK), DNV, DVB Bank, GAC, HMS Far East Pte Ltd, Ince & Co, Jurong Port, Keppel Offshore & Marine, MTM Ship Management, Panama Maritime Authority, Pacific International Lines (PIL), PSA, Sembcorp Marine, ShipServ, Standard Chartered Bank, The Standard P&I Club, Tiger Oil Marine and V.Ships.

For more information about SEA ASIA, go to www.sea-asia.com

About the Organisers

Seatrade
Covering the globe - www.seatrade-global.com.

Established 40 years ago, Seatrade is a leader in maritime and cruise publications, conferences and exhibitions, training, awards and other special projects. Regular events include international trade exhibitions and conferences across all maritime sectors, management training courses for shipping professionals, training seminars for travel agents and maritime award schemes, including the prestigious Seatrade Awards held at the Guildhall in London. Seatrade publications include magazines, supplements and yearbooks, whilst daily maritime news is provided online by Sea Asia Online (www.seatradeasia-online.com).

The Singapore Maritime Foundation is a private sector-led organisation established to develop and promote Singapore as an International Maritime Centre (IMC). Established in 2004, SMF seeks to work in partnership with the different sectors of the maritime industry to advance the maritime interests of Singapore through collaborations and events. One of its notable projects include MaritimeONE (Outreach Network) an initiative that seeks to heighten awareness of the maritime industry, the maritime professionals, the exciting career opportunitites and boost recruitment for the maritime industry.

For more information about SMF’s initiatives, visit www.smf.com.sg

For more information, please contact Helix Media, public relations consultants for SEA ASIA 2011.

Helix Media, 20 Maxwell Road, #10-05 Maxwell House Singapore 069113
Edward Ion: +65 6222 6375
Mobile: +65 9111 6871
Email: edward.ion@helixmedia.asia