Baltic and International Maritime Council (Bimco) is set to host its annual conference and awards in Dubai on April 29.

More than 400 shipping industry leaders from the region and the world’s shipping centres will gather at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel for the conference, which will focus on handling maritime disasters and regulatory changes impacting ship owners and the industry.

The conference will be in two tracks – legal track, which will include a role playing exercise on resolving a maritime casualty – the mess, the media and the mediators; and technical track, which will focus on the upcoming regulatory requirements.

Angus Frew, secretary general and CEO, said: “At our conference we are tackling two large and important issues facing our industry.

“Through the muddle and confusion that immediately follows a maritime casualty – a grounding, a collision or even a total loss – the ship owner must think clearly and tread carefully, looking after the welfare of the crew and minimising damage to the environment.  In this role-playing exercise we will explore in a practical way how to handle such a crisis.

“Importantly, this experience will involve the audience at each stage as the story unfolds. Armed with an interactive voting metre, each member of the audience will be asked what they would do next and help determine the outcome of the event.”

“Regulations around ballast water and emissions are fast approaching and everyone in our industry is worrying about the implications and the options. This may be the biggest game-changer for the industry since the end of the sailing era over 100 years ago,” said Frew.

The session on the new regulations will elaborate on the concepts of multi-fuelled ships, availability and effectiveness of technologies for cleaning emissions and waste water, and the practicalities of using LNG, he added.

The conference will conclude with the ‘Bimco Awards Gala Dinner,’ where awards will be presented to shipping companies and individuals who have excelled in areas reflecting the council’s global activities. - TradeArabia News Service