The sixth annual The Maritime Standard Tanker Conference, which takes place on November 23 at the Dubai World Trade Centre, will adopt the theme Tanker shipping: Charting a course back to market stability. 

 

This year’s event is being held following something of a roller coaster ride for the tanker shipping business over the past 18 months or so, with unexpected highs followed by lengthy periods of extreme difficulty in many markets. 

 

Clive Woodbridge, Conference Chairman and Editor of The Maritime Standard, says: “The impact of coronavirus and the knock-on effects on the global economy, as well as ongoing political and trade tensions, has made tanker shipping markets very volatile and difficult to predict. Nonetheless, there seems no reason why the tanker shipping business should not quickly return to stability early in 2022 and the aim of the TMS Tanker Conference will be to explore ways of achieving and preparing for that goal.”

 

While the pandemic, and its associated economic impact, represents perhaps the dominant challenge facing the tanker shipping segment, there are other issues too. The global battle against climate change has ushered in new rules and regulations which will continue to impact tanker shipping, while the acceleration of digitalisation offers significant new opportunities. The safety, security and health of crew has risen up the agenda, and cybercrime is another topic of growing concern. 

 

All of these and more will be covered in the programme which will have three main sessions. Session 1 in the morning will assess the short and long term prospects for the tanker shipping business; Session 2 in the afternoon will highlight the importance of support businesses and services for tanker trade growth and development; while the final Session 3 will look at how the business can harness new technology and fresh ideas to shape the future course of the tanker shipping business.

 

Woodbridge adds: “After a period of extreme volatility the emphasis now is on how to bring the market back first to stability, and then growth, so decisions taken now could have hugely important and enduring effects. Attendees at this year’s Conference will get a unique and privileged insight into the thinking and strategies of influential executives and key companies in this sector, and as a result will leave better placed to take decisions that will facilitate business recovery and growth within their organisations.” -- TradeArabia News Service