UBM Global Trade’s 7th Annual Breakbulk Europe Transportation Conference and Exhibition took place from May 22nd -24th at the Antwerp Expo in Belgium and addressed anticipated industry growth from emerging markets. The program featured two days of panel and keynote discussions as well as workshops and networking events within the heavy-lift and BreakBulk transportation sector.
During the Breakbulk Europe exhibition, visitors and participants from all over the world learnt about the current business challenges & opportunities facing shippers within the traditional Breakbulk, heavy-lift and project cargo markets. Various visitors to the show came from industries such as, financial, logistics, project, transportation, operations and distribution management from Shippers, EPCs, BCOs, manufacturers, freight forwarders, transportation providers, ports and terminals, technology & equipment providers, and government agencies.
Over the 2 days of Breakbulk Europe, many topics were discussed with conference delegates pertaining to various topics such as, Combating the Scourge of Piracy, The Changing Emphasis on European Short Sea Shipping, Ports, Roads & Rail Development in India, New Future for Energy Generation and many more.
Janet Plume, content director of Breakbulk Magazine & Events, and Walter van Mechelen, chairman of Alfaport Antwerpen, provided opening remarks, followed by a keynote address on trends and forecast for the power generation market by Sandro Lepori, director of logistics, Alsom Ltd.
A panel of industry experts provided a general session on the future of the multipurpose vessel fleet, followed by a panel on compliance. The day’s conference agenda closed with a panel on project forwarding.
In addition to the program, attendees toured the record 200 booths at the Exhibition Hall, along with networking at coffee breaks and a network luncheon.
Throughout the day, Allpack, Cordstrap and Maersk provided flat rack cargo safety demonstrations.
CSS Group was well represented during the Breakbulk Exhibition, showcasing a strong presence led by a delegation from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and India.
From CSS Dubai, Raj George, Senior Vice President-Ocean Freight, Siby Kurian, General Manager Sales & Marketing and Amith Horra, Marketing Manager were in attendance.
From CSS Bahrain, Narayan Tagore, General Manager and from CSS India, Prabhakar Maniyan, Vice President-Projects represented their respective regions during the exhibition.
“Visitors were given a great opportunity to meet the professionals and avail the facilities provided by the exhibitors during the exhibition. CSS Group took advantage of this opportunity to exhibit our products and services by having a direct face-to-face contact with the visitors”, added Raj George, Senior Vice President-Ocean Freight, CSS.
Breakbulk Europe 2012, which concluded May 24 at the Antwerp Expo in Antwerp, blasted previous conference records with more than 5,000 attendees and 200 booths at the Exhibition Hall.
More people meant far more opportunities to network at coffee breaks, a network luncheon, and with exhibitors and colleagues.
The conference’s second day kicked off with opening remarks and in the final day’s sessions, covering conference panels expertly covered analysis of the Baltic and EPC-shipper logistics management trends. “In May, we held the largest Breakbulk conference and exhibition to date, with close to 5,000 attendees in Antwerp, Belgium,” said Alli McEntyre, Breakbulk vice president and publisher.