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Displaying items by tag: EMD 2016 Turku

#EMD2016 – The annual European Maritime Day’s (starting today) is to highlight the importance of the seas and oceans and the challenges facing maritime regions and sectors.

This is the ninth edition of EMD and takes place in Turku, Finland with a conference today and tomorrow, 19 May. There will also be an attractive line up of activities for the general public between 20-22 May.

EMD 2016 is organised in cooperation with the City of Turku and the Finnish government. It will take place in an old locomotive hall called Logomo in Turku.

We are looking forward to an exciting and interactive event focusing on the theme of "Investing in competitive blue growth - smart and sustainable solutions".

More specifically it will focus on identifying and highlighting the practical steps needed to drive blue growth investments, as well as innovation and change in the blue economy.

The EMD conference and exhibition offers a dynamic networking environment for the more than 800 participants registered as well as structured opportunities for mutual exchange and debate through 20 stakeholder workshops, five thematic sessions and two 'Leadership Exchange' panels.

The event will also include matchmaking meetings, a networking village with more than 30 exhibitors, a photo competition, site visits, a classical concert, an art project on marine litter and much more.

Afloat adds that last year’s newbuild cruiseship Mein Schiff 4 (pictured above) made a first visit to Dun Laoghaire Harbour last season. The 2,506 passenger capacity was built at the Turku shipyard for German premium-class operator, TUI Cruises. Next week, fleetmate, Mein Schiff I is to call to the Irish port to launch the season on 26 May. 

The almost 100,000 tonnes Mein Schiff 4 had anchored off the East Pier Dun Laoghaire Harbour (see photo), became the last order for STX Finland before the Baltic yard was taken last year by Meyer Turku. 

Leadship, Mein Schiff 3 was built in 2013 at the same yard. Meyer Turku will complete TUI Cruises order for further sisters.

Published in Ports & Shipping

Coastal Notes Coastal Notes covers a broad spectrum of stories, events and developments in which some can be quirky and local in nature, while other stories are of national importance and are on-going, but whatever they are about, they need to be told.

Stories can be diverse and they can be influential, albeit some are more subtle than others in nature, while other events can be immediately felt. No more so felt, is firstly to those living along the coastal rim and rural isolated communities. Here the impact poses is increased to those directly linked with the sea, where daily lives are made from earning an income ashore and within coastal waters.

The topics in Coastal Notes can also be about the rare finding of sea-life creatures, a historic shipwreck lost to the passage of time and which has yet many a secret to tell. A trawler's net caught hauling more than fish but cannon balls dating to the Napoleonic era.

Also focusing the attention of Coastal Notes, are the maritime museums which are of national importance to maintaining access and knowledge of historical exhibits for future generations.

Equally to keep an eye on the present day, with activities of existing and planned projects in the pipeline from the wind and wave renewables sector and those of the energy exploration industry.

In addition Coastal Notes has many more angles to cover, be it the weekend boat leisure user taking a sedate cruise off a long straight beach on the coast beach and making a friend with a feathered companion along the way.

In complete contrast is to those who harvest the sea, using small boats based in harbours where infrastructure and safety poses an issue, before they set off to ply their trade at the foot of our highest sea cliffs along the rugged wild western seaboard.

It's all there, as Coastal Notes tells the stories that are arguably as varied to the environment from which they came from and indeed which shape people's interaction with the surrounding environment that is the natural world and our relationship with the sea.