Posidonia The International Shipping Exhibition

Piraeus 6-11 June 1988 Posidonia 88, the biennial international shipping exhibition, will be held at the Piraeus Exhibition Center in Piraeus, Greece, from June 6- 11, 1988.

The week-long Posidonia exhibition, which includes the Posidonia Forum, draws marine industry leaders from around the world. Typically, exhibitors have included shipping companies, port authorities, shipbuilders and ship repairers,ship products and services, engine manufacturers, cargo-handling equipment manufacturers, engine room machinery makers, shipping agents, maritime consultants, navigation and communications equipment manufacturers, marine paint suppliers, ship classification societies, towing and salvage equipment suppliers, etc. This year, more than 650 companies from 45 countries will be exhibiting. This eclipses the Posidonia 86 total of 620 exhibitors from 49 nations.

Launched in 1964, the Posidonia exhibition was first held in the Zappeion Palace in Athens. Posidonia 88, the 11th of its kind, is being held in the newly refurbished Posidonia Exhibition Center. This year's exhibition marks the 7th time it has been held at the Exhibition Center.

Posidonia 88 is being sponsored by the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping, the Union of Greek Shipowners, the London-based Greek Shipping Cooperation Committee, the Union of Mediterranean Cargo Vessels' Shipowners, the Shipowners' Union of International Lines, and the Association of Greek Passenger Ships.

Evangelos Giannopoulos, the Minister of Mercantile Marine in Greece, will open the Posidonia Forum, along with Stathis Gourdomichalis, president, the Union of Greek Shipowners (UGS). Mr.

Gourdomichalis will chair a discussion on issues affecting the future of international shipping. The Athens Intercontinental Hotel will be the site of the Forum on June 9.

The event is open to Posidonia ex- hibitors and leaders from the shipping industry who have been invited by the exhibition organizers.

Other keynote speakers at the Posidonia Forum, which is an integral part of the Posidonia Exhibition, are George Anastassopoulos, chairman of the Transport Committee of the European Parliament, Basil Papachristidis, INTER TANKO chairman, and Andrew G. Spyrou, the former technical director of the Onassis Group.

Posidonia 88, like its predecessors, will once again be an important event, with few equals on the shipping calendar. It is one of the few times when so many shipowners and marine product and service suppliers are in one location.

The Greek-flag fleet accounts for one-third of the total cargo-carrying capacity of the European Community, and for over 10 percent of all dry bulk tonnage worldwide. If Greekoperated vessels under other flags are added in, then Greeks directly or indirectly control an estimated 44 million gross tons, or substantially over 10 percent of the total world merchant tonnage of all types.

Therefore, without exaggeration, Greek shipping could be described as a billion dollar market. Every two years, Posidonia offers an excellent opportunity to tap this huge market.

For more information on Posidonia 88, contact: Posidonia Exhibitions Ltd., 4-6 Efplias Street, GR- 185 37 Piraeus, Greece; telephone: (01) 4517859, 4517868; and telex: 241937 EXPO GR. Their representative in the United Kingdom is Seatrade, Fairfax House, Colchester C01 1RJ; telephone: (0206) 45121; and telex: 98517 DISOP G.