#IrishMaritimeForum – The inaugural Irish Maritime Forum recently held in Cork was attended by more than 150 delegates representing the shipping industry, various stakeholders and departments and the Irish government agency, the Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO).
According to the IMDO, they were delighted to join an exciting line up of speakers for the event's main seminar entitled 'Developing the Dynamic Future of Ireland's Maritime Sector' which was hosted by the Port of Cork in partnership with the Irish Ports Association.
Combined they gathered industry leaders from across the Irish maritime sector to the conference that was opened by Minister Sean Sherlock TD, who spoke of the importance of ports as strategic points for trade growth, both nationally and internationally. The minister also drew attention to the recent uplift in port volumes as indicated by the IMDO's iship index.
A cross section of the Maritime world was in evidence with port operators, department representatives, pilots, stevedores, European officials, educators, mariners and many more all contributing to meaningful debate during the conference and well into the break out times.
Speaking at the event, the IMDO's Business Development Manager Rebecca Wardell, emphasised the necessity for ports to look at potential areas of innovation, efficiency in work practices, competition across services and planning the means to meet future capacity demands over a 20 year plus horizon.
She also stressed the IMDO's commitment to be involved in an on-going collaborative process to assist ports in this regard.
The importance of a forum such as this cannot be underestimated, creating a unique opportunity for those in the industry to come together and develop ideas for the future of the sector. This is particularly relevant at present with significant government support for the development of the sector evidenced by the cross departmental strategy, Harvesting Our Ocean's Wealth.
On a related note, another major conference Our Ocean Wealth was held last June in Dublin, for more details about the work of 'harvesting' our national resources, visit: www.ouroceanwealth.ie
Following the conclusion of the Irish Maritime Forum, a Gala Dinner that evening was hosted by the Irish Institute of Master Mariners, for further details about the IMM: www.mastermariners.com
For further information on the role of the IMDO including the iShip Index and much visit: www.imdo.ie
