‘Thrilling to be back’: Posidonia claims all-time record for visitors
2022 event closes as the ‘most successful’ ever, according to organisers
Traditional last-day Union of Greek Shipowners press conference underscores importance of Greek-owned fleet
POSIDONIA 2022, the biennial shipping event held in Athens, closed on Friday after justifying optimism that industry interest would be greater than ever after the 2020 edition had to be cancelled due to the lockdowns in key global economies.
Organisers reported that the past week saw an 18% increase in the number of visitors to the exhibition, compared with the 2018 event.
The total of more than 27,000 visitors was the largest in the event’s history of more than 50 years.
“This has been by far the most successful Posidonia in the history of the event.,” said Theodore Vokos, managing director of Posidonia Exhibitions.
“It’s thrilling to be back with such a positive impact. We are thankful and grateful for the unwavering support of the global maritime community,” he said.
“The volume and quality of our visitors surpassed everyone’s expectations,” said Mr Vokos who also hailed the amount of “innovation presented on the exhibition floor” as well as “inspirational” discussion within a packed programme of conferences and seminars offered throughout the event.
Activities in the debating chambers of the Metropolitan Expo Centre were crowned on Friday by a press conference by the Union of Greek Shipowners, a last-day tradition of the event.
UGS president Melinas Travlos underscored the importance of Greek shipping, which represents 59% of the EU fleet, especially as shipping is seen as playing a crucial role in Europe’s scramble for energy independence.
“Energy transition is the most important issue for us. What Europe does with decarbonisation regulations such as Fit for 55 and the emissions trading system must be guided by the need to preserve and promote the competitiveness of European shipping as a whole.
“Certain decisions may be detrimental to our industry and could risk losing our competitive edge against competition from Asia and other regions,” she said. “We want a global solution and not one that is only impacting specific regions.”
Ms Travlos also said that the industry wanted the public “to understand the importance of shipping in our everyday lives because the industry is not just a business, but a strategic partner for every country, every government. This is something that is not clear, and we want to help fix it.”
Posidonia 2022 is organised under the auspices of the ministry of shipping and island policy, the UGS and the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping, with support from the municipality of Piraeus and the Greek Shipping Co-operation Committee.