Post by ferryfast admin on Sept 22, 2007 14:57:05 GMT -5
MAPQUEST
Conventional wisdom of maritime industry to descend on area
By GREGORY RICHARDS, The Virginian-Pilot
content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=133049&ran=184954
September 22, 2007
Two major maritime industry conventions will dock in Hampton Roads over the next two weeks.
The first will be the East Coast Maritime Conference - Sept. 24-25 , which the Journal of Commerce trade publication is holding Monday and Tuesday at the Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront.
The second - the larger and more prestigious one - will be the America Association of Port Authorities' annual convention, running from Sept. 30 to O ct. 4, at the downtown Norfolk Marriott Waterside and Waterside Convention Center.
Panamanian President Martin Torrijos will deliver the keynote address at the port authority convention on Oct. 2. He will speak about the $5.2 5 billion Panama Canal expansion that began this month, which will make it possible for more and bigger ships to sail from Asia to East Coast ports such as Hampton Roads.
The Virginia Port Authority is hosting the association's convention, which is expected to attract about 700 port leaders, exhibitors and guests.
The state-controlled authority views it as a major marketing opportunity.
"It's a chance for the authority to show who we are and what we do," said Port Authority spokesman Joe Harris.
Te d C. Fishman, author of "China Inc.: How the Rise of the Next Superpower Challenges America and the World," will speak on the shift of the world's manufacturing to China.
Other sessions will focus on topics such as the growth in ship size, environmental issues facing ports and the logistics of moving vast quantities of freight.
The port authority association last held its annual convention in Norfolk in 1980, according to Jean Godwin, the group's executive vice president.
The Virginia Port Authority is footing the convention's entire $1.5 million bill, Harris said. He said the event normally breaks even thanks to revenue from registration and sponsorships.
Be tween 200 and 250 people are expected at the Journal of Commerce event, said Janet Plume, the magazine's program director. It was held in Norfolk last year.
At this year's event, one of the keynote addresses will be delivered by Thomas DeMarino, director of international transport for furniture giant IKEA North America. The other will come fr om Morten Nicolaisen, chief financial officer for Maersk Inc., the North American arm of Danish shipping conglomerate A. P. Moller-Maersk Group.
Other sessions will look at warehouse and distribution parks, terminal productivity and inland railroad corridors, such as Norfolk-based Norfolk Southern Corp.'s $313 million Heartland Corridor project to speed trains hauling double-stacked cargo containers from Hampton Roads to the Midwest.
The Port Authority is paying $25,000 to be the lead sponsor for the Journal of Commerce convention, Harris said.
Arthur W. Moye Jr., executive vice president of the Norfolk-based Virginia Maritime Association, said it's an honor to have both conventions in Hampton Roads.
"Any time the Hampton Roads area is the site of one of these not only national but internationally recognized conventions, I think it bodes well for our stature as a world-class port," he said.
Gregory Richards, (757) 446-2599, gregory.richards@pilotonline.com