The Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCC&I) organized its next edition of Annual Shipping Conclave with the help of senior representatives from the Government, Policymakers, Industry leaders, Researchers, etc. The theme of this year's conclave was "Future Strategies of the Shipping Industry - Vision 2030".

The objective of this conclave was to highlight the present and future scenario of the Shipping industry (particularly with respect to movement of cargo and Maritime Connectivity to Ports) and to emphasize the long term strategies to be adopted in the interest of growth and development of the Global Supply Chain network.

Capt S B Mazumder, Chairperson, Shipping Committee, BCC&I welcomed the inaugural speakers on the dais which comprised Shri Vinit Kumar, IRSEE Chairman, Kolkata Port Trust, Ministry of Shipping, Government of India, Shri S B Shukla, IRS, Member (Traffic & Logistics), Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), Ministry of Shipping, Government of India, Sri N. S. Nigam, IAS, Secretary, Department of Transport, Government of West Bengal and Shri Satinder Pal Singh, IPS, Joint Secretary - Shipping, Ministry of Shipping, Government of India and others.

Apart from the above, some of the other key speakers were Capt. Farhat Imam, Chief Operating Officer, Resolve Marine Inc, Florida, USA, Shri Madhu S. Nair, Chairman and Managing Director, Cochin Shipyard Limited (A Govt of India Enterprise), Ministry of Shipping, Government of India, Mr. Brent Perry, Chief Executive Officer, Sterling PBES (SPBES),Norway, Mr. Arun Sharma, Executive Chairman, Indian Register of Shipping and Chairman, International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), Capt Sandeep Mehta, President, Adani Ports & SEZ, Chairman, Ports and Shipping Committee, ASSOCHAM, Mr. Prakash Tulsiani, Chief Executive Officer, CFS-ICD & Investor Relations, All Cargo Logistics Pvt Ltd, Mr. Indrajeet Nagar, Chief Manager, Container Services and Marketing.

The conclave was an eye-opener for the Shipping Industry, which comprises of bulkers, tankers, ship vetting/inspection, surveyors, vessel scrapping/recycling, etc as they had a clear understanding of the global scenario of Maritine Trade and what are the measures to be taken for furthering developments and growth of the Shipping industry for seamless movement of cargo within India and overseas.

Overall the Conclave provided a way forward for the Shipping companies which would help them to nurture their respective business verticals, thus, would result in improvement of maritime trade which in turn would develop the economies of scale.