ATHENS – A highly anticipated week-long event catering to the global maritime community, the Posidonia International Shipping Exhibition, this year saw a record number of visitors and exhibitors – over 40,000. A biennial event featuring exhibitions, conferences, and sports and social events, Posidonia set sail once again (June 6-9) after a hiatus due to COVID-19.

“Our challenge for this year was to resume the event and rediscover the momentum lost during the height of the pandemic,” said Theodore Vokos, Managing Director, Posidonia Exhibitions S.A. “I think we did a pretty good job, to not only achieve both of our basic objectives for the event, but to also set the bar even higher for the future,” he said.

Some 29,000 visitors from 103 countries and territories flooded the Athens Metropolitan Expo venue exhibition and conference rooms, setting new benchmarks for Posidonia, which exceeded the expected 18,000 visitor turnout. The event featured over 1,960 exhibiting companies, which showcased industry products and services based in 88 different countries.

“It was clear that the shipping and maritime community was looking forward to this event after 2018. During this time, almost all types of ships [were represented: bulk carriers, tankers, containers, and LPG and LNG carriers, so the positive energy flow was evident,” said Nikolas Manolas, S&P Broker at Allied Shipbroking Inc.

The event commenced with the resumption of its signature social and sports events including the Posidonia sailing race, running event, and shipsoccer, basketball, and golf tournaments.

Discussed at Posidonia’s seminars were topics including human wellbeing in shipping, preventing maritime incidents through data and analytics, diversified crewing strategy, maritime cybersecurity, and addressing safety concerns on the road to net-zero shipping, among others. The transition to ‘Green’ shipping was among the most popular topics addressed.

“Significant deals and business announcements took place, and people in key positions expressed their opinion on several topics among the conferences,” Manolas said. “This Posidonia was a great chance for exchanging ideas in an interactive way by meeting in-person again, something that we have missed during the COVID period.”

A few deals that were spo0tlighted included the partnership between Capital Ship Management and Lloyd’s Register towards their strategic direction to try biofuels in a pilot project on board one of the VLCC vessels controlled by Capital Ship Management, as well as Angelicousis-controlled Maran Gas finalizing the new building order of two LNG vessels at Daewoo Shipyard, Manolas said.

Exhibiting companies represented various industry sectors including environmental protection, cargo systems, chemicals, clean energy solutions and equipment, underwater technology, weather intelligence services, ship management, naval architecture, yachting, brokers, and more.

“The response and feedback we received from exhibitors, visitors, government officials and maritime stakeholders was overwhelmingly buoyant,” Vokos said. “Posidonia is the industry’s bellwether, a totem of status, prestige, and authentic maritime heritage, and as such it will always remain resolute in its commitment to carry on its mission to help everyone in shipping set their course, navigate and communicate effectively for years and years to come.”

Considering this year’s absence of many Asian – mainly Chinese visitors – due to COVID-19 related travel restrictions, event organizers are optimistic about an even greater turnout at Posidonia 2024.

Posidonia is organized under the auspices of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs & Insular Policy, the Union of Greek Shipowners, and the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping with the support of the Municipality of Piraeus and the Greek Shipping Co-operation Committee.

“This family’s strong roots go deep: five millennia for Greek shipping and half a century of Posidonia,” said Melina Travlos, President of the Union of Greek Shipowners.