IBIA looks ahead to our 30th anniversary year
We have wrapped up IBIA’s 2022 events, and it is onwards and upwards as we reach our 30th anniversary in 2023!
The first IBIA Mediterranean Energy and Shipping Conference took place in Malta on 13 September. A total of 169 people participated in the Conference, including Malta’s Minister for Environment Energy & Enterprise and Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects. The conference was supported by Transport Malta and by the Enemed and Evos terminals, as well as other national and international companies who sponsored, supported, participated, and gave their insights about the industry. We would like to thank each and every one of them for their valuable contributions.
The conference concluded with a visit to the Evos tank terminal network, consisting of eight terminals, with a combined storage capacity of 6.3 million cbm and the Enemed tunnel underground fuel storage installation situated approximately 45 metres underground.
We were very pleased, after two years of doing the IBIA’s Annual Convention virtually, to host it in person in Houston on November 15-17. It was a great success with 150 delegates. We would like to thank our sponsors, speakers, delegates, media partner and media sponsors as well as our strategic partner CMA. Our partnership with CMA was an exciting synergy to encourage engagement with shipowners.
The Convention heard how the bunker industry was looking forward to a year of recovery in 2022 as the Western economies started to put COVID-19 behind them, with Asia-Pacific looked set to follow before long. But the war in Ukraine upended any sense of calm, with the industry scrambling to move on from using products of Russian origin and cope with the knock-on impacts of the war and ensuing sanctions on various shipping segments. Bunker prices around the world have been trading at or near record highs, and the long-discussed issue of the bunker industry’s access to credit is starting to become more acute. Beyond these immediate concerns, decarbonisation and digitalisation remain the dominant themes for the industry, with both shipping and bunker companies looking to invest in both areas to modernise their operations, cut bills and reduce emissions.
Moving to IBIA’s activities for 2023, we are happy to invite all our members and their guests to the most anticipated event in the marine fuels industry’s calendar, the IBIA Annual Dinner, which will take place on 27 February at the amazing Westminster Park Plaza hotel in London.
On 20 April next year, the second IBIA Mediterranean Energy and Shipping Conference will take place in Genoa. The Port of Genoa is one of the most important seaports in Italy and we are pleased we will host it in the home town of our Chair, Timothy Cosulich.
Save the dates for the IBIA Annual dinner and this conference!
After two years of COVID-related disruptions, the traditional IBIA Asia Gala Dinner will be back in April 2023, taking place in Singapore. Our Regional Manager for Asia, Siti Noraini Zaini, will be able to tell you more in due course. The IBIA Africa Conference 2023 will take place in June, and you can read more about it in the Africa Regional Manager report by Tahra Sergeant.
Finally, as we wrap up our events for 2022, we are pleased to announce that the IBIA Annual Convention 2023 will take place in Dubai in November. We will update you with further details soon.
It makes me a proud as IBIA’s Global Head, Marketing and Events, to announce we have reached another milestone in our history: In 2023, IBIA will celebrate its 30th anniversary! IBIA is thankful to each of you for being a valued part of our Association, and we look forward to marking the occasion at the 30th IBIA Annual Dinner in February 2023!
What began as a small membership organisation with just 10 members has risen to stand tall in the industry with over 400 members in more than 70 countries. I am very proud to say that IBIA has countless achievements and accomplishments to its name thanks to the combined efforts of the IBIA Secretariat, members of the Board, members of IBIA’s Working Groups and various companies and individuals among our members.
From the events team’s side, we are also grateful to our members who trusted in us with their business. Our success story remains incomplete without the support of our members, sponsors, speakers and delegates as they helped us spread the word to boost our promotional efforts.
I take this occasion to make a personal announcement: I will be on maternity leave for the coming year.
We plan to keep on growing our business and relations with you and continue to provide you nothing less than the best. While I am on maternity leave, this will be in the very capable hands of Tahra Sergeant along with Stefan Tiu, who will be acting as our Marketing and Events Executive. I am certain you all have met Tahra at some point before. It will be a natural transition for her to take over management of all the IBIA events in the coming year and ensure they will be as successful as ever.
For more information about our activities, you can visit www.ibia.net.
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Sofia Konstantopoulou
Global Head of Marketing & Events
The above is the Events report for the Q4, 2022 issue of World Bunkering, IBIA’s official magazine.