More than 1.800 professionals participated in the fourth edition of the maritime encounter
The maritime industry has joined forces, demonstrating the importance of collaboration between its sectors and its capacity for innovation with the celebration of World Maritime Week, a maritime meeting of reference that includes four congresses: Sinaval, Eurofishing, Futureport and Ocean Energy Conference. In its fourth edition, 1,869 professionals participated in the main areas of the event, such as the congress, the exhibition, the buyers’ program and the parallel activities.
Participants from 32 countries, including Germany, Denmark, the United States, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands and Spain, among others, were very positive about the organization, the level of the congresses and the profile of the exhibiting firms. Regarding the congress section, more than 90 speakers from Belgium, South Korea, United Kingdom, Norway, Seychelles, Madagascar, Denmark or France, among other countries, have contributed with their vision on the most current topics: industry perspectives for 2050, competitiveness and resilience, digital transformation or renewable energies, among other aspects.
As far as buyers are concerned, shipowners, shipping companies and shipyards of the standing of Cotecmar (Colombia), Sima-Servicios Industriales de la Marina (Peru), Grandweld Shipyards (United Arab Emirates) or Balearia (Spain), as well as representatives of companies from Turkey, Argentina or Brazil, have participated in the scheduled interviews with exhibitors at the event.
The exhibition area, located in the Luxua pavilion, has hosted 84 firms, which have presented the entire value chain and major developments in the maritime industry. Thus, from Tuesday until today, the latest innovations, services and cutting-edge technology, as well as new business opportunities in the blue economy have been shown.
The opening of World Maritime Week was presided over by Unai Rementería, Deputy General of Bizkaia, who was accompanied by Bittor Oroz, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Policy of the Basque Government and Xabier Basañez, General Manager of Bilbao Exhibition Centre.
First edition of the World Maritime Week Awards
In parallel, the social agenda of World Maritime Week has acted as a unifying element of the event. Among the highlights, yesterday afternoon saw the presentation of the first edition of the World Maritime Week Awards, which was attended by more than 200 people. These awards were created with the intention of celebrating the successes of the maritime sector, recognizing those actors who contribute to the continuous improvement of the industry.
Four awards were presented during the gala, one for each sector represented at the forum. In the Sinaval category, the award went to Artemis Technologies for a service vessel project, whose novelty lies in the use of hydrofoils to achieve a lower drag with the consequent improvement in propulsive efficiency. The Eurofishing Award went to Echebastar, with its Alakrana Tuna, for having added value with a new deep-freezing system at sixty degrees below zero. The Futureport Award went to the Port Authority of Vigo, with its Living Ports project, for combining the restoration of ecosystems with the planning and design of port infrastructures through ECOncrete technology. The winner of the Ocean Energy Conference Award is the Erasmus Mundus REMPlus Master’s Degree offered by the UPV/EHU, which is an excellent means of attracting talent and training in sector-specific skills.
Finally, also within the framework of the World Maritime Week Awards, a fifth award was given to Javier López de Lacalle, who as director of the Basque Maritime Forum has been promoting the importance of the naval industry as a strategic sector for more than 30 years.
The event was also attended by Ainara Basurko, Regional Deputy for Economic Promotion, who was in charge of putting the end to the first edition of the awards.
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