More than 100 leading maritime experts from across the globe will be in Bahrain next week to discuss ‘Safety of Life at Sea’ at a major international maritime event.

The Bahrain Maritime Festival 2012 is being held from October 17- 18 under the patronage of the Minister of Transportation Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed.

Delegates from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) member states and regional and local maritime industry community expected to attend.

The Ministry of Transportation’s Ports and Maritime Affairs (PMA) has already started finalizing preparations for the exclusive one-day seminar set to kick-off the World Maritime Day parallel event as part of the Bahrain Maritime Festival 2012.

The seminar part of the event will focus on the World Maritime Day 2012 theme: ‘IMO: One hundred years after the Titanic”, which calls back to the organisation’s very roots, and will take stock of the improvements made over the past 100 years in ensuring the safety of life at sea.

In addition, industry leaders from around the world are expected to address a broad audience of the maritime community at the seminar.

The top speakers include: deputy director-general, Danish Maritime Authority and chairman of the IMO Maritime Safety Committee Christian Breinholt; senior VP of International Maritime Pilots’ Association (IMPA), Otavia Fragoso; VP of Technical and Regulatory Affairs, Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), Charles Darr; the secretary general, International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) & International Shipping Federation (ISF), Commander Peter Hinchliffe; marine director of Lloyd’s Register, Tom Boardley; the managing director of the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (Intertanko) Katharina Stanzel; Assistant secretary-general and director of the Maritime Safety Division, IMO, Captain Andy Winbow and the deputy director and head of the Arab and Africa (Francophone) section, technical co-op division of the IMO Mohammed El Housseini-Hilal.

Commenting on the event, Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed said: “Bahrain has always been an active member state of the IMO and the Ports and Maritime Affairs is a strong supporter of the organisation’s initiatives.

"This year’s festival will provide an excellent platform for top maritime experts to discuss the existing safety culture in shipping, highlight the challenges faced in maritime safety and explore industry-wide mechanisms towards a new paradigm for safety of life at sea," he added.

IMO secretary general Koji Sekimizu said,  “We look forward to our participation at the one-day seminar organised by the Ports and Maritime Affairs, to mark the World Maritime Day Parallel Event, as part of the BMF celebrations in Bahrain.  Shipping today is safer and more environmentally friendly than it has ever been."

"A century after the Titanic was lost, the IMO is striving to ensure continual improvement in safety at sea and we believe that the seminar will open the platform to reinforce our commitment to ensure stronger international capabilities are available to handle the safety of life at sea," said Sekimizu, who will be attending the Bharain event.

As part of this year’s BMF celebrations, the second day will include a number of site visits to key maritime locations within the Kingdom, including the state-of-the-art Khalifa Bin Salman Port and the Arab Ship Building and Repair Yard (Asry).-TradeArabia News Service