Maritime Fair Will See Global Shipping Interests Congregate in Copenhagen

DENMARK – Coming off the back of 2014’s successful inaugural event, the Danish Maritime Fair has announced that it will return for a second year, opening its gates to leaders from across the global shipping industry from 6th to 8th of October 2015. Taking place at the Train Workshop in Copenhagen, the Danish Maritime Fair will form part of a week-long event, Danish Maritime Days, which integrates a multitude of activities dedicated to the maritime sector, under the same umbrella.

The focus of this Fair is to engage ship-owners, even further than it did in 2014, when the Danish ship-owners, such as: Mærsk, Clipper Group, Uni-Tankers and Dannebrog, all decided not only to join as visitors, but also to exhibit with their own stands. Taking into consideration their feedback, the organisers decided for 2015 to designate a special area for companies in the shipping sector and furthermore to introduce a related theme each day, throughout the exhibition:

Tuesday: Crewing & HR

Wednesday: Shipping & Finance

Thursday: Nautical & Technical

This year, with the exhibition growing by 40% in area and offering 171 stands, the halls will be divided into 5 main sections: Shipping & Finance; Authorities, Education and Organisations; Bunkers & Services; Equipment Suppliers; and Various, including ports and offshore. Global Business Development Director, Jakob le Fevre, explained:

“Ship-owners are the core of the maritime business; in 2015, we want to generate a more dynamic context, in which the ship-owners’ representatives actually take part in the action. Equipment suppliers have traditionally travelled around the world to meet possible clients and partners, but the commercial part of the business really needs a local place to meet, interact, network and discuss deals, and this is what we’re creating at the Danish Maritime Fair. People often think of ship-ownership in general terms, but the fact is that one can identify four main areas under it; we have therefore decided to dedicate one day to each of these areas, combining nautical and technical, since these categories are both from the operational side of the business.”

The Fair will take place in a very special venue, the Train Workshop, which used to be the repair shop of the Danish State Railways. The architecture has been restored in a spectacular manner, maintaining its industrial look, warmed up by the generous amounts of light pouring in through large, beautiful windows and generous skylights. René Wittendorff, the CEO of Maritime Denmark and the organiser of both 2014 and 2015 Danish Maritime Fairs, said:

“With partners such as the Danish Ship-owners Association, Danish Maritime, Oil & Gas Denmark and the Danish Maritime Authority, we have a strong hand to shake with our guests, and I know from my discussions with the major players in the Scandinavian maritime cluster that they are eager to welcome newcomers into the Nordic business environment, and to quickly close a mutually profitable deal with any company that really stands out from the crowd, no matter where it comes from.

“We had amazing feedback after last year’s event, and we know that with all we have prepared for our guests this year, they are going to experience a strongly improved concept. It will be the ideal place to do business and close deals, but also to make new friends and enjoy Denmark, with all that it has to offer – a great capital city, wonderful people, great food and fun places to get closer to your business partners.”

Photo: The Train Workshop in its heyday.