The General Organisation of Sea Ports (GOP) said four eminent speakers from the international and local maritime sector will attend a major seminar to be held as part of the Bahrain Maritime Festival (BMF) 2011.

The industry seminar titled 'Addressing Piracy,' will be held on September 26 as part of the week-long festival.

It will have maritime experts from US and Bahrain Armed Forces and the Royal Australian Navy in the panel, said a GOP statement.

Building on the success of last year, BMF 2011 has received favourable responses from leading maritime companies, who have pledged their support as sponsors of the festival which is being held from September 25 to 29.

Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard (Asry) is BMF’s strategic sponsor for the second consecutive year, while Bahrain Flour Mills is the silver sponsor for this year’s event.

Bronze sponsors include: Al Jazeera Shipping Company, Bahrain Polytechnic, GAC Bahrain, APM Terminals, and UCO Marines. Media partners include: Al Watan, Al Ayam, Al Bilad, Akhbar Al Khaleej, and Gulf Daily News.

Commenting on the announcement, GOP director general, Hassan Ali Almajed said, 'The attendance and support from distinguished international and local maritime professionals, shows the importance the industry places on this year’s theme - Piracy: orchestrating a response.'

The contribution of such organisations will encourage the interaction of prominent maritime industry professionals, which is of course key to allow knowledge sharing on how to combat this issue,' said Almajed.
 
'Moreover, it will assist all stakeholders to adopt a practical, comprehensive and sustainable strategy to address maritime security and best practices to counter piracy. We also extend our sincere thanks for the interest and support received from all sponsors, he added.

The maritime event will feature a number of different activities, one of which is the BMF photography competition titled “Reflection of the Two Seas”.

Also the BMF will boast of several maritime-themed activities including the BMF Kids Carnival at the Bahrain City Center, lecture for secondary school students in addition to site tours to Khalifa Bin Salman Port and Asry.-TradeArabia News Service