NEW YORK – Capital Link's 15th Annual International Shipping Forum took place March 2-3 as a digital event. The Forum was held in partnership with Citi and in cooperation with NYSE and Nasdaq.

Over the course of two days, the Forum featured 21 sessions, 90 senior executives from 46 leading maritime companies, financiers and industry participants. 1×1 meetings were scheduled between institutional investors and senior executives of shipping companies and held in parallel to the Forum.

The Annual International Shipping Forum is known for its large attendance by investors, owners and financiers. It is a meeting place for C-level Executives from the industry and the finance and investment communities involved with shipping. Held in New York City every year, the Forum examines the macroeconomic issues that are shaping and transforming the international shipping markets today. This year due to the circumstances, the Forum was held in digital form.

The Forum provides a comprehensive review and outlook of the various shipping markets, made more relevant by the release of companies’ annual results. Discussions included topics of critical relevance to the industry such as geopolitics, environmental regulations, technology, addressing the current crewing crisis, fleet renewal, Post – COVID-19 recovery and more.

Capital Link President Nicolas Bornozis stated in his opening speech: “I would like to welcome you all to the 15th Annual Capital Link International Shipping Forum, which we are hosting this year again with the supporting partnership of Citi and the supporting cooperation of the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. We are holding this event at a very critical time, as we all know that with the vaccine becoming more readily available, there is an air of optimism that we are coming out of the pandemic, that the world economy is opening up and that economies and societies around the world are gradually returning to normality. So this is a period full of new challenges and a lot of opportunities. And we are delighted that despite the fact that we were not able to hold the event with physical presence, still, modern technology gives us the opportunity to bring together an amazing roster of panelists and attendees from all over the world. Our agenda is top level with all major industry players and we have tremendous participation. In addition to the panels we are hosting today, addressing all major shipping sectors and critical industry topics, we are hosting together with Citi a very large number of 1×1 meetings.

“I would like to pay tribute to Christa Volpicelli, Managing Director & Head of Maritime Investment Banking – Citi; Conference Co-Chairman, and the whole Citi team for their partnership and support over the years. We are humbled, honored and privileged to have this long running cooperation with Citi. Sharing with them the heavy burden and responsibility of the organization for such an event, results in a more prominent Forum, brought to an even higher, prestigious standard.”

Polys Hajioannou, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Safe Bulkers Inc. (SB), noted that Safe Bulkers has become a signatory of the Neptune declaration on seafarer and crew change. “We believe that currently the single most important operational challenge for shipping companies is the inability to conduct timely and cost efficient crew changes due to the COVID pandemic. We believe that the shipping industry as a whole should work in tandem to address this situation. The responsibility should be shared amongst the key players mainly charterers and ship owners but also governments and regulators. We are doing our part even in cases where charterers show reluctance to play their part for seafarers’ reliefs.”

In 2020, Capital Link hosted nine full scale global digital conferences and 20 webinars, boasting a total of 202 virtual sessions that featured industry experts and thought leaders. Attracting 28,500+ delegates from all over the world, Capital Link also held over 700 1×1 or small group on-line meetings, a unique track record, growing their extensive investor network.

Videos from Capital Link’s 15th Annual International Shipping Forum are available for replay online: http://forums.capitallink.com/shipping/2021newyork/index.html.