(and that was what the buyers were saying)
As the saying goes: How many delegates and exhibitions stands does it take to create the most talked about ISSA Convention in years? Well in excess of 350 delegates, 36 exhibition stands (of the highest quality); not to mention 22 top industry shipowner and ship manager buyers; a high-level industry-matching conference agenda with international speakers to match; as well as an exquisite Gala Dinner with some of the best business networking in town. And that is before we even talk about the beautiful Spanish City of Seville, the amazing Andalusian hospitality and the superb facilities and amenities afforded by the venue for this year’s ISSA Convention, the 5-star Barceló Sevilla Renacimiento hotel, looking amazing with its ISSA signage. And what a venue – a hotel well-known for its architecture and design that evokes the Guggenheim Museum in New York, capturing the interest of the visitor at first sight. Situated on the banks of the Guadalquivir River, a short walk from the Alameda de Hércules, famous for its bars and restaurants, and just a few minutes from all the historic sites of interest in Seville. What a treat. As Rafael Fernandez, President of ISSA, said ahead of the official opening of Convention: “It is with so much pleasure and delight that I welcome you to the beautiful city of Seville for this year’s ISSA66 Convention. And I can promise you a few days of the best business networking and social interaction with your industry peers, as well as with your customers, the buyers.
“Convention is an important annual event for ISSA because it gives us an opportunity to showcase quality ship supply to the wider world. And we will be doing that in spadefuls here in Seville this week, especially as we have an even larger number of our valued customers participating through our ever-growing ‘Meet the Customer’ initiative.
“Massive thanks must go to the very many sponsors of this year’s ISSA 66. We cannot hold an event like this without their support, and for this we are truly grateful. Many of these wonderful companies are exhibiting this week so please visit their booths and see how they can help you grow your businesses.
“I would also like to sincerely thank my colleagues at the ISSA Secretariat and on the Executive Board for all their help in organising ISSA 66 and this week would not be happening without the massive contribution from my Bayport and AESMAR colleague Eugenio Mediavilla. He has been a stalwart and must take a lot of credit. I hope you all enjoy your stay here in Seville and I look forward to catching up with you all during the week,” he stressed. And a success it truly was, with the Assembly voting Abdul Hameed Hajah from Singapore; Miss Li-Li from China and Robert Zeagman from Canada onto the ISSA Executive Board for a three-year term. The President took the time to thank the Assembly members and to wish the new Executive Board, which will sit from January 1st, good luck and good fortune for the year ahead.
ISSA is well practiced in putting on Conventions but the onset of the Covid lockdown put a hold to face-to-face meetings. Fast forward a few years to this October, and you have an industry that was keen to meet in person and do business. Combine that with a compelling business agenda, and a ‘Meet the Customer list’ comprising of some of the biggest movers and shakers in global procurements and you have the recipe for an event to be remembered. ONN Denizcilik
Arcadia Shipmanagement Co Ltd
Bernhard Schulte Singapore Holdings Pte Ltd
Densay Ship Management
Eolos Ship Management
General Procurement Company Limited - GenPro
Globus Ship Management Corp
Intership Navigation
Lomar Shipping Limited
Marcas International Limited
Newport SA
Oldendorff Carriers
Safety Management Overseas SA
TORM
T Soechi Lines Tbk
Aegean Shipping
Grehel Shipmanagement Co
Island View Shipping Service
MCTC
Bright Navigation
MTM Ship Management (I) Pvt. Ltd
Originally the brainchild of ISSA Executive Vice President Jim Costalos, ‘Meet the Customer’ is the perfect addition to Convention as it taps into ISSA’s growing Honorary Membership list and brings many of the world’s top buyers in front of the ISSA membership who can book a 15 minute slot with the buyer of their choice to talk about their company. And the buyers get a lot out of it too, with many admitting that they have booked new business with the ISSA members they met because of the information they were told. So, definitely something for the ISSA membership to consider every time Convention comes around.
The headline Conference, held in the morning of the two days of Convention, was also a major success with keynote speeches sitting alongside hard-hitting panel sessions. Our ISSA President Rafael Fernandez got proceedings off to a fine start on the first morning of Convention with a rousing welcome speech. This was followed by a welcome address by Constantinos Dritsakis, President of AESMAR. Nicolas Martinez, Head of Business Development at the Algeciras Bay Port Authority, also addressed delegates on the important role played by ports in the region.
"It is with so much pleasure and delight that I welcome you to the beautiful city of Seville for this year’s ISSA66 Convention."
The first panel of the conference brought together Bob Zeagman, owner of Seagulf Marine; Vahit Simsek, Chairman at AVS Global Ship Supply; Kyriacos Georgiou, Group Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director, MCTC Greece; and Constantinos Dritsakis, Chairman, AESMAR, to discuss the important issue of the role of quality shipsupply in an efficient global supply chain. The second panel session on the issue of Sustainability: Who should be setting the standards for a greener future, involved strong debate by the panellists John Davey, ISSA Executive Vice President; Maria Theodosiou, Managing Director, GenPro; Eric Kroken, Managing Director, Alligator Group; and Carl Forsman, ISSA Assembly Member.
The important work undertaken by OCEAN, ISSA’s European special committee, and how its replication in other parts of the world could boost trade between the main trading areas of the world, came under the spotlight with strong discussion by the panellists Arne Mielken, Consultant, Customs Manager Ltd; Costantino Zavoianni, Chairman of OCEAN; Danny Lien, President of SASS; Waleed Shaikh, Director International Operations, Global Ship Services.
Following an illuminating presentation by Dr Katerina Konsta, CEO of the World Maritime Academy, backed up by Jim Costalos, ISSA Executive Vice President, on the important issue of training tomorrow’s ship suppliers through ISSA’s Education Programme, the debate then switched to Geopolitics and the impact on trade lanes and global ship supply sanctions and what ship suppliers need to be aware of. Thanks must go to Tony Giner, Head of Procurement at Torm, Andro Stylianou, Managing Director of National Ship Chandlers in South Africa, and Arne Mielken for an excellent panel session, packed full of good information. Delegates were then presented with an interesting keynote speech on the future of ISSA: Building on ISSA’s Strengths, by George Saris, ISSA Treasurer. This was followed by a panel debate with the panellists Rafael Fernandez, ISSA President; Deepika Wijesuriya, Managing Director Deep Ocean; Gurdip Singh, Senior Manager at MTM Ship Management; and Ms Li Li, newly elected ISSA Executive Vice President and President of the China Friendship External Supplier Association of Commerce; and Fabio Rodriquez from DSF Services and Ship Supplier in Brazil.
Convention culminated spectacularly with the traditional Gala Dinner on the last night and the handing over of the ISSA flag, this time to the Singapore Association of Shipsuppliers & Services (SASS), who will host ISSA 67 in Singapore next year. We all look forward to it immensely.
