World’s leading shipbuilding fair puts the focus
on environmental protection

SMM 2010 – 24th international shipbuilding fair
at Hamburg Fair site
from 7 to 10 September 2010

SMM 2010 is going greener. And green also stands for continued recovery of the worldwide economic climate for the global shipbuilding industry, which meets at the Hamburg Fair site for the 24th shipbuilding, machinery & marine technology, international trade fair hamburg from 7 to 10 September 2010. Greener and more efficient is also the watchword for the new technologies and products, which will be presented by some 2,000 exhibitors from 60 countries to more than 50,000 trade visitors from all continents. SMM 2010 marks the beginning of a “green era” in shipbuilding and shipping.
The shipbuilding industry was a boom sector in the past years, as was SMM. And despite the downturn of the past year – which was not an SMM year, because it is a biennial event – they have lost none of their international importance. The best evidence of that is that some 87,000 square metres of exhibition space in the eleven halls of the Hamburg Fair site, plus the outdoor spaces, were already fully booked well in advance.
So world shipbuilding looks with interest to SMM 2010, which promises an economic boost for shipyards and marine equipment suppliers. Developments for greener technologies and products play a major part in that. The regulations and limits set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and a whole series of countries for pollutant emissions boost the demand for new products. They mean that ships already in operation need to be retrofitted with modern equipment.

The shipyards and marine equipment suppliers have adjusted to this situation, and will be showing new green developments at SMM 2010. KOSHIPA (the Korea Shipbuilders’ Association) will be there with the country’s leading shipyards such as Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI), presenting new ship designs as at the previous SMM. It was just at the end of January that SHI announced it would build exclusively environment friendly ships from 2015 onwards, with carbon emissions 30% lower than today.

Exhibitors, particularly the market leaders who are regularly present at SMM, will be showing that good environmental performance and good business are by no means opposites.
In fact, environmental technologies mostly give benefits for the climate and for the environment, and also for energy efficiency, with improved economics of ship operating. That is demonstrated for example by the engine manufacturers such as MAN and Wärtsilä together with their subsystem suppliers, making marine diesels with lower fuel consumption and hence also lower emission levels. The same applies for improved automation and navigation systems, as shown at SMM 2010 for example by ABB and Siemens, and by Kongsberg, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Transas and SAM. Green technologies also include a whole range of additional equipment such as bilge water management and disposal systems.

There are more than 180 first-time exhibitors at SMM. And there are also new names among the national pavilions. Including India, Sweden and Singapore, the number of national pavilions has risen to 30 at SMM 2010. India in particular has set ambitious goals for the shipbuilding sector, following the successful start last year to SMM India. The aim is for India to increase her global market share to 2.2% in 2012, and to 7.5% by 2016/2017. Important milestones on this route are SMM 2010 and SMM India 2011, which is to be held in Mumbai from 7 to 9 April 2011.

A total of some 150 conferences, workshops, symposia and meetings are to be held at SMM 2010. For example the international Ship Finance Forum, which covers an area of vital importance for a functioning shipbuilding market; that will be held on 6 September, the day before the start of SMM, and will focus on the Future of Ship Finance.

gmec (the global maritime environmental congress) will be held for the first time on the occasion of SMM, at CCH-Congress Center Hamburg on 7 and 8 September 2010. This high-ranking conference brings together more than 700 leading representatives from industry, government, academia, navies and environmental NGOs, to develop and present concrete solutions for greener and cleaner shipping. Detailed information is available at the website www.gmec-hamburg.com

Another new event will be the SMM Offshore Dialogue on 8 and 9 September, recognising the fact that Offshore is playing an increasingly important role in the global economy and thus also in the shipbuilding industry. The market volume of the offshore sector is growing rapidly. Global investments in the deep-water sector alone for the period from 2010 to 2014 are estimated at $167 million by John Westwood, Chairman of energy consultant Douglas-Westwood Ltd., who will be opening the two-day offshore workshop. That corresponds to growth of 37% in 5 years.
The first section, that is the Oil & Gas Dialogue, will cover questions of the market potential, current and future requirements for special-purpose vessels, etc.
The second section is the Deep Sea Mining Dialogue, where experts give an overview of the resources to be expected worldwide, the existing technologies for extraction, experience gained so far, and solutions required. The loss of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico in April will no doubt mean that particular importance will be attached to safety in the discussion.
The third section is dedicated to offshore wind farms. This relatively new field for generating renewable energy has great potential particularly for shipyards and marine equipment suppliers, because special-purpose ships are needed for construction and maintenance.

Another important conference is the CIMAC Circle on 9 September, which addresses Total Cost of Ownership of Marine Propulsion Engines.

The opening ceremony for SMM 2010 and gmec will be held at CCH on the evening of 6 September, i.e. the evening before the SMM starts. The keynote speaker is Efthimios E. Mitropoulos, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), who is one of the most committed advocates of improvement in global protection of the seas.
 

(last Update: 26.05.10)