Page 8: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (October 2014)

8 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • OCTOBER 2014

A ccording to the SMM website, 2014 marked the 26th version of this iconic trade show. This year, the show attracted more than 2,100 exhibitors from all around the world, notably including 150 fi rst-time com- panies, and 50,000+ industry visitors.

I know people who have been making this pilgrimage every two years since the 1990s. That makes me a newbie in rela- tive terms, having only been here, I think, four times. Many times over, however, I trudged the approximate 90,000 square meters of exhibition space this month, and I can attest that the show is not just getting older; it is also getting better.

SMM has demonstrated once again what it means to be, if not the leading interna- tional trade fair of the maritime industry, certainly one of its best venues for doing business. By the numbers; the show was equally impressive: spread out over 26 national pavilions with exhibitors from 67 different countries plied their wares and services to an eager international au- dience. Many are already planning their return to SMM in 2016.

You don’t have to be a 10 time vet- eran to size up any trade show, but all of them have a certain fl avor and year- to-year, they all have a certain theme.

On the trade show fl oor itself, there is always a mood that is imported by those who make the trade show possible – businesses and professionals hoping to make and renew relationships that trans- late into a more robust business climate in the years to come. This year, and in a transport mode that can often be nothing short of “dog-eat-dog” on a 24/7/365 ba- sis, I saw something a little bit different.

As the maritime world claws its way back from the depths of the global reces- sion that saw historic lows in 2008 and 2009, stakeholders are approaching the task – at least in my estimation – in a slightly different manner. This year, co- operation seems to be the key. Strategic alliances abound. And, a broad brush, sweeping trend seemed to take over the show. The word “partnership” seemed to be very much in vogue. That said, the reasons for this are quite simple, and at least to me, quite transparent: they also make for good business.

Nowhere was the partnership angle more apparent than in the ballast water treatment game. With EPA deadlines looming for 2015 in the United States (what will they do when everyone checks the VGP box “NO”?), manufacturers can fi nally see the light at the end of the regulatory tunnel. Or, maybe, as in the immortal words of Winston Churchill, at least “the end of the beginning.” Vari- ous viable technologies abound, most – on the surface – able to meet the IMO and/or U.S. phase 1 standard. What they don’t necessarily have is a good window on how to fully penetrate the shipping markets. Enter the partnership.

Ballast water partnerships – and at least four were announced during the week of

SMM – took the form of manufacturers teaming with shipyards, in some cases distributors, engineering and planning consultants, and, in some cases, all three.

It makes a lot of sense. This is one aspect of the waterfront where access isn’t easy and the smart players are realizing they do need help to get the contracts. Also emerging at the show was the general feeling that BWT manufacturers (a.) just weren’t interested in installing equip- ment and (b.) they’ve realized there are others better positioned to do so. Instead, they want to concentrate on building the best possible hardware.

Every trade show, so it seems, is a venue for deals to be announced, acqui- sitions trumpeted and partnerships ex- plored. And, at the 2014 SMM, ballast water was just one example of the “part- nership” model in play. Over the course of a fi ve day visit to Hamburg, I saw myriad other examples of this trend. The recovering maritime sector has come to realize that it is going to have to “work and play well with others” if it hopes to come all the way back. SMM was an apt setting to make that happen.

It all adds up to a recovering global maritime marketplace. Sure, freight rates could be a lot better and overcapac- ity still dogs the shipping markets in key sectors. Separately, the regulatory ham- mer, specifi cally in terms of ballast wa- ter, engine emissions and the new MLC (2006) code for seafarers all collectively add to the challenge of doing business in an increasingly perplexing global arena.

Any venue that brings all the players un- der one roof for a solid week of interac- tion makes the task of navigating those issues just a little easier and also increas- es opportunities for collaboration. Argu- ably, no one else does it better – or on a grander scale – than SMM. Maybe that’s the real defi nition of the word “partner- ship.”

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Summing Up SMM

Joseph Keefe is the lead commentator of MaritimePro- fessional.com, and is Editor of both Maritime Professional and

MarineNews print magazines. He can be reached at

[email protected]

MaritimeProfessional.com is the largest business network- ing site devoted to the marine industry.

Savvy partnerships represent a resurgent maritime industry at the world’s largest maritime trade show in Hamburg,

Germany. SMM’s record turnout is ample proof that global shipping is alive and well. (Pho t o: Michael Zapf)

MR #10 (1-9).indd 8 10/1/2014 9:20:15 AM