Page 32: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 15, 1984)

Atlantic Container Line's RO/RO-container-ship Atlantic Companion, first of five that will enter service this year, is the largest and most technologically advanced vessel ever built for the North Atlantic trade. The Kockums-built ship has a capacity for 2,130 TEUs as well as space for 600 automobiles. Major features include the huge stern ramp and permanent cell guides on the weather deck, both supplied by MacGregor-Navire.

ROI: K 84

Nice, France — May 9—11

This year's 7th International

Conference & Exhibition on Mari- time Transport using Roll-on/Roll- off Methods—RO/RO 84—will be held on May 9-11 in Nice, France, at the invitation of the City and with the cooperation of the

Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie et des Alpes Maritimes and the Port of Nice.

RO/RO 84 will be held in the new Palais des Congres situated in the center of Nice, with the Old

Town close by and the major ho- tels only a short walk away. This new center has been designed with full integration between the con- ference and exhibition areas, thus permitting delegates to maximize their time at the event.

The 1984 Conference comes at a time that marks a new era for the

RO/RO mode, with no fewer than 11 new 2,000-TEU-plus roll-on/roll- off ships currently coming into services on the world's deepsea routes. The main contenders in this league are Atlantic Container

Line's third generation RO/RO containerships, Barber Blue Sea's

Supercarrier II, and Merzario's en- larged tonnage, not forgetting the existing big ships of Saudi Na- tional Lines, Transatlantic Rederi, and Leif Hoegh.

It is against this scenario of new ships that the Conference will be opened at 2:00 pm by the first ses- sion's chairman, Nigel Tatham, who is senior vice president of the

Sea Containers Group. Under his direction, representatives of most of the shipping companies men- tioned above will take up the de- bate with leading brokers in the

RO/RO market.

The other sessions of the Confer- ence will be guided by leading in- ternational figures from the ship- ping and port industries, including:

F. Bureau, president of ICHCA and director general, Cie. de Nav- igation Denis Freres; Y-P. Re- mond, commercial director, Port of Marseilles Authority; J. Penis- sard, International Road Trans- port Union; J-E. Wahl, technical director, Oivind Lorentzen Ship- ping A/S; and G.N. Bowman-

Shaw, chairman, LancerBoss

Group.

An important part of RO/RO 84 will be the Exhibition, where del- egates will see the latest technol- ogies, port developments, and transport services at first hand.

During the meeting there will be an opportunity for participants to inspect one of the latest Mediter- ranean RO/RO ferries loading at the Port of Nice, and a post-con- gress visit on May 12 to the Port of Marseilles-Fos, which is served by 60 container lines, and which operates 36 RO/RO berths. 34 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News