On 6-10th June, Athens will once again play host to Posidonia, the renowned international marine exhibition organised by the Union of Greek Shipping and its partners. We will be exhibiting at Posidonia under our new brand, Accelleron, for the first time, and look forward to meeting colleagues and friends, old and new, to show you the depth and breadth of our product and service offering.
John Smyrneos, our managing director in Greece and Cyprus, explains: “After two years without meeting face-to-face with our customers, it’s a really important opportunity to catch-up. Posidonia is a key platform to allow the international marine industry to show off the latest developments and to engage with ship owners and ship builders. It’s a milestone event in our calendar and we can’t wait.”
The event currently has nearly 2000 exhibitors signed up and, if attendance returns to pre-Covid levels, it should attract more than 20,000 visitors. A full conference program will run alongside the exhibition, as well as a series of sporting competitions, including the flagship yachting race, the Posidonia Cup. The Accelleron team will be participating in the race.
The Ancient Greeks considered Delphi, just north-west of Athens, to be the centre of the world. In some ways, that’s still true. With Italy to its west and Turkey to the East, Greece stands at the centre of traditional concepts of Eastern and Western civilisations, and has been a hub for East-West shipping trade for five millennia. So it’s not surprising that the exhibition draws in exhibitors and customers from across the globe.
Greece has thus been a leader in shipping and shipbuilding since classical times. Today, Greek ships dominate the volume and tonnage of the EU merchant fleet, comprising 52% of its vessels. This leadership is especially true when it comes to bulk carriers and tankers, notably LNG carriers. More than three out of ten oil tankers world-wide are Greek-owned, and two out of ten LNG carriers. The shipping industry is thus a key part of the country’s economy: the marine industry in Greece represents 7% of GDP, and directly or indirectly employs around 300,000 people.
“Greek shipping is still a rapidly growing industry sector in the country,” says John. “It’s extremely important for employment and also investment.”
This year, we will be presenting turbocharging technologies focusing on innovation and sustainability, and the latest additions to our digital offering, Tekomar XPERT marine, that can help unlock the potential of your operations through digitalization.
John and his team will be delighted to greet those of you attending Posidonia at Accelleron’s stand, situated at Hall 2/2.303.