HOUSTON, April 30, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- The world's maritime leaders were urged to confront the challenges of a growing global economy at Monday's opening session of the 25th International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) World Ports Conference being held at the Hilton Americas-Houston Hotel. In his keynote address to IAPH delegates, Captain Nicola Arena, the Chairman and CEO of Mediterranean Shipping Co. (USA), spoke about the vision and courage required if ports and shippers intend to meet the increasing demands of international trade.
"Together, we have a shared responsibility to plan, invest and provide efficient and economical ocean transportation to our customers. This is a difficult and expensive task, but shipping has never been a business for the faint of heart," said Captain Arena.
The IAPH Conference provides a forum for leaders in the maritime industry to exchange ideas, discuss challenges and exhibit state-of-the-art technologies of the global maritime industry. The Port of Houston Authority (PHA) is serving as the conference host.
IAPH President H. Thomas Kornegay, executive director of the Port of Houston Authority (PHA), kicked off the first of six work sessions on Monday by introducing a distinguished group of speakers for "Globalization of World Economy and its Impacts on Ports."
Renato Bertani, CEO of Thompson & Knight Global Energy Services, LLC from Houston, provided an informative presentation about the world trade impacts of the growing economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China. Bertani, the former president of Petrobras America Inc., the Brazilian-owned energy conglomerate, pointed out that "interdependence is the key word" as the engine of economic growth for these four countries.
The growth in the cargo container industry headlined the work session as Neil Davidson of London-based Drewry Shipping Consultants, Ltd. discussed the future of containerization. By 2011, Davidson said, there will be a 672-million TEU capacity demand. "The challenge we all face is to avoid congestion and ensure that new capacity is put in place to meet the demand."
Rounding out the lineup of presenters were Tommy Stone of Houston's Truckline LNG Company, Yuji Hirano of Japan's NYK Line, Michael Gallis of Charlotte, N.C., Mark Smith of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Jagdip Ahluwalia of the Indo American Chamber of Commerce, and Don Wang of Houston's MetroBank N.A.
In addition to Monday's conference opening and work session, the trade exhibition hall was officially opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Exhibit Hall hours are Tuesday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m.--5:00 p.m.
The International Association of Ports and Harbors was founded in 1955. For more than 50 years, IAPH has steadily developed as the leading organization in the global maritime industry. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, the IAPH comprises representatives from more than 400 ports and top executives from major industry corporations in nearly 90 countries around the world. The members' ports as a whole handle 85 percent of the world's container traffic and more than 60 percent of the global seaborne trade. More information about IAPH is available on www.IAPHworldports.org. For more information regarding the conference, visit www.IAPH2007.com.
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ALL JOURNALISTS, PHOTOGRAPHERS, TELEVISION, RADIO AND VIDEO CREWS WILL BE REQUIRED TO OBTAIN A MEDIA CREDENTIAL FOR ACCESS TO EVENTS AT THE CONFERENCE HOTEL. PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY TO REGISTER IN RM 333.