Asia Pacific Maritime 2016 charted strong showing amid choppy seas

Asia Pacific Maritime (APM), Asia's premier trade exhibition and conference for international marine, workboat and offshore communities, concluded on an upbeat note amid strong headwinds and conservative sentiments.

Held from 16 to 18 March 2016, the three-day event recorded 14,954 visitors. A total of 1,521 exhibitors from over 60 countries and 17 official pavilions showcased their cutting-edge products and technology on the exhibition floor.

Despite the industry slowdown, exhibitors reiterated the importance of participating in a maritime trade exhibition, and one that is Southeast Asia's largest. One good example is leading maritime engine player, Cummins, who leveraged APM 2016 and unveiled its QSK95 diesel engine in the Asian marketplace for the first time.

Sharing similar thoughts is also Raouf Khalife, Director of Marketing Communications & Branding at Thuraya Telecommunications Company, a leading mobile satellite services operator, "It is our 3rd time participating at APM, and it is a good exhibition for companies to be at. The exhibition ground attracts the right audience for our business and they come to us with the right questions, and interest in our products. These are definitely quality leads that are worth pursuing."

Added Kevin Jones, Client Account Director at BigOceanData, "APM is an excellent platform for us to sell our solutions to companies. The gathering of international and local players were important targets for networking. We were able to get in touch with various technology partners to look into plans to integrate our data into their systems, and vice versa."

APM 2016 also continued to record active Asian participation, including strong presence from Chinese companies. Automobile and equipment manufacturing group, Weichai Power Co. Ltd was one that believed in the value of participating in APM 2016. Its Assistant General Manager, Zheng Gengsheng, shared that "crisis" or "weiji (Σ»ú)" in Chinese, translates into the coexistence of opportunities and challenges. When the industry meets strong headwinds, it is also indicative of opportunities to turn the business around.

The exhibition ground also saw the debut of an Indonesian pavilion, where participation of key associations including the Indonesian National Shipowners Association (INSA) and the Indonesia Shipbuilding and Offshore Association (IPERINDO) fostered stronger conversations for both Indonesians and the region's maritime companies to work together. A conference track dedicated to Indonesia was also curated for the first time at APM 2016 to harness available opportunities from the fast-emerging country.

Yeow Hui Leng, Senior Project Director, Reed Exhibitions, said, "The strong participation from international exhibitors and visitors on the ground is especially encouraging. As a platform that facilitates networking with prominent players, we believe that such robust interaction has helped establish the momentum for the industry to sail forward when the economy eventually recovers."

In line with this, IHS Maritime & Trade analyst has predicted that it won't be until 2018 before the supply and demand market improves noticeably. 

New ideas were also buzzing on the conference floor. The three-day session kicked off with an opening keynote by Peter Williams, Secretary of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), who presented about the IACS quality system for the first time in Asia, addressing the importance of quality control in today's more complex and commercially demanding landscape.

Leading APM's first LNG session was Dr. Gan Shaowei, national LNG project leader from the China Classification Society, who shared on harmonising the LNG thrust in the industry. He said that industry players must start by first "identifying the issues that hinder the promotion of LNG. It is only after that, can the industry keep improving and revitalise their policies to make it attractive to the market."

Exciting and insightful exchanges were also heard at the market landscape conference, "6 questions in 60 minutes". Peter Sand, Chief Shipping Analyst, BIMCO, said that Asia is at the helm of the world shipping economy, and that it is in a prime position to influence global shipping. He added, "We hold the key to the solutions in the shipping industry, and can balance out the demand situation in the market."

 

 

Fellow speaker Mark Charman, CEO of Faststream Recruitment Company, highlighted the glut of jobs available in certain segments of the maritime industry. According to Charman, opportunities abound for electrical engineers, as well as crew on liquid natural gas carriers, cruise ships and oil tankers. He added that workers must work efficiently and constantly enhance their skills to remain employable, concluding, "Change is the common factor in the maritime sector at the moment. We can fight it, or we can roll with it."

The next edition of APM will take place from 14 to 16 March 2018. More information about APM is available at https://www.apmaritime.com. Stay connected via LinkedIn at https://Inkd.in/byEMQtd.

Asia Pacific Maritime (APM) is Asia's premier exhibition and conference focusing on shipbuilding & marine, workboat and offshore. Gathering the world's maritime and offshore community in Asia, expect to meet over 15,000 industry professionals from Asia, more than 1,500 international products & services companies including 18 country pavilions and over 50 industry influencers, all in one single platform to buy, sell, network and learn. For more information, visit the official website at www.apmaritime.com.

 

 

Reed Exhibitions is the world's leading events organiser, with over 500 events in 43 countries. In 2014 Reed brought together over seven million event participants from around the world generating billions of dollars in business. Today Reed events are held throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa and organised by 41 fully staffed offices. Reed Exhibitions serves 43 industry sectors with trade and consumer events. It is part of the RELX Group plc, a world-leading provider of information solutions for professional customers across industries. www.reedexpo.com

 

This article was originally published on Marine & Industrial Report newspaper Vol 38  No.3  Issue last June 30, 2016.