Present state, immediate future of shipping in Caribbean and Latin America to be discussed in Jacksonville

The 11th Caribbean Shipping Executives Conference (CSEC) will bring delegates face to face with the current realities facing world shipping and, against that background, will focus attention on the state and immediate future of the industry in the Caribbean and Latin America.

The three-day event, May 21, 22 and 23, will address specific aspects of maritime cargo movement and handling. Shipping industry executives from the Caribbean, Latin America, the USA and Europe will also discuss cruise shipping in the leading pleasure cruise region on the planet. The conference is being hosted in Jacksonville, Florida, by the Jacksonville Port Authority and will be held at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort.

Presentations by leading industry executives and lively panel discussions will highlight three days of information transfer and business networking. Testing questions from participants and impromptu remarks regarding issues currently unfolding will, in the manner of Caribbean Shipping Association (CSA) conferences, accentuate the proceedings.

The Panama Canal makes the Caribbean and Latin America strategically important in global shipping. The massive expansion project now under way to double the capability of this facility has therefore been at the centre of plans for development of maritime industry capability in more than 20 countries in South America, Central America and in the southern United States. The conference will begin with an insider's update on expansion of the Panama Canal, presented by the chief executive officer of the Panama Canal Authority, Alberto Aleman.

Looking at ports

Following this presentation, participants will look at the readiness and capability of the region's ports and facilities to deal with life after an expanded Panama Canal starts allowing access of even bigger ships directly into Caribbean. Presenters and panellists include many of the key persons now dealing with the inevitable transitions, development and retooling which have become necessary because of the expansion of the Panama Canal.

On the third day (set aside for cruise-ship business and cruise-port issues), the CSA will be presenting topics, which evaluate and examine the forces shaping cruise-ship deployment;and passenger safety on mega-cruise ships.

Conferences of the CSA are known for their importance to the networking which binds the shipping industry in the Caribbean and Latin America. This pivotal sphere in global shipping, largely because of the Panama Canal, must work efficiently at all times and the CSA helps in creating the links and networks to make this happen. The executives' conference is the first of two calendar conferences of the CSA.

To register, visit: http://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?EventID=1068168