The Chairman opens Gulf Maritime Show
Sharjah - December 13 2011
The Eighth Gulf Maritime Industries Show and Mastech Conference was opened by Sheikh Khaled bin Abdullah bin Sultan Al Qassimi, Chairman of Department of Sea Ports and Customs on Monday December 12 2011 at the Expo Centre Sharjah. Present at the inauguration ceremony were His Excellency Ahmed Mohammed Al Midfa, Chairman of the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), Engineer Rashid Al Leem, Director General of Department of Seaports and Customs and Director General of Hamriyah Free Zone, Hussain Al Mahmoudi, Director General of SCCI, in the presence of SCCI and Expo Centre Sharjah officials, representatives of MAST, an association of naval architects which organised MASTECH, and government officials and industry executives.
Sheikh Khaled attended Mastech 2011, one of the world’s foremost international maritime conferences on naval architecture and shipbuilding, which is held at Expo Centre Sharjah along with Gulf Maritime Exhibition.
He later opened the Exhibition and was acquainted with the products and services offered by the exhibitors.
“Rising trade with the emerging markets has thrown up massive business opportunities for GCC countries, encouraging them to invest heavily in their ports to raise capacity. Most of these ports are also well placed to benefit from a gradual shift in trade routes - being ideally located between Asia and the Far East on one hand and the West, Central Europe, and Africa on the other,” said Ahmed Mohammed Al Midfa.
The expected infrastructure investment to the tune of $2 trillion by GCC states and the increasing focus in the manufacturing sector are also driving up cargo movements and utilization of excess capacities.
“Gulf Maritime, along with the MASTECH International Marine and Technical Conference, will be an international platform that will showcase the emerging opportunities as well as serve as a comprehensive sourcing point for the commercial, government and the military maritime industry,” he added.
Apart from port expansion, the surge in ship movement has also given rise to demand for ship repair services, boosting business at Abu Dhabi Ship Building, Drydocks World and the newly-opened Al Jazeera Port in Ras Al Khaimah.
The UAE, located strategically on one of the world’s most important shipping routes, sees a number of ships and vessels calling at its ports, which also means more demand for repair services.
Mastech Conference is being organised by MAST (Middle East Alumni of Ship Technology, an association of naval architects graduated from the department of ship technology, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kerala, India), in association with Expo Centre Sharjah.
MASTECH 2011 has 15 speakers over two days, including keynote address, techno-commercial presentations and panel debates in five sessions. “They intended are to focus on next generation ship designs, shipping economics, technical innovations in maritime industry, marine heavy lift & transports and offshore oil & gas sectors” said Rajesh Babu, President of MAST.
“We expect over 300 international delegates to attend the conference and will see the presentation of 20 technical papers. The conference will focus on latest advancements in design, engineering and innovative technologies in the maritime field,” he added.
The eighth edition of Gulf Maritime featured more than 100 brands and exhibitors from Bahrain, Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, the UAE, the UK, Ukraine and the US.
Occupying nearly 4,000 square metres of exhibition space, the display included high-quality products such as deck machinery and other vessel equipment, docking equipment, electronics, communication and navigation systems, engine and propulsion systems, fuel and lubricants, ride control systems, sound and vibration control systems and marine interiors.