Over 7,000 visitors are expected to attend Seawork

From countries across the globe, including Australia, Canada, the US and Europe, over 500 exhibitors will be at Seawork International, the commercial marine exhibition and conference, opening on Tuesday 10 June for its annual three-day run in the ABP Port of Southampton, UK.

Over 7,000 visitors are expected to attend Seawork, which will feature products and services relevant to every sector of the commercial marine industry, including offshore wind farm construction and maintenance, safety and rescue, civil engineering, maritime security and a host of other applications and technologies. In 2013, the exhibition attracted visitors from over 70 countries and Seawork 2014, the 17th edition of the annual exhibition, is expected to exceed that achievement.

Featuring a number of special interest zones, including 60 vessels afloat, the Innovations Showcase, the Ship Repair & Ship Building Pavilion, the Renewable Energy Pavilion and DiveWork, Seawork's unique location and layout enables easy navigation of the three halls, Quayside and pontoons.

For many commercial marine professionals, the 72-hours of Seawork, which include the presentation of the prestigious Innovation Awards, is a ‘must-do' event in the diary. With so much of the industry concentrated in one place, it is established as an un-missable opportunity to see, compare, contrast, try and buy and also an excellent place to size up the competition and identify opportunities for new product development.

Maritime companies from across the UK migrate to Southampton in June and, increasingly, they include those who have seen the potential of diversifying into the commercial marine market. Bainbridge, Halyard, Harken, Jeremy Rogers, Suzuki, Cheetah Marine and C-Quip are among the 30+ ‘cross-over' companies signed up for Seawork 2014.

European support

Five months before opening day on 10 June, European maritime countries accounted for the majority of overseas exhibitors signed up for Seawork 2014, with the Netherlands leading the fleet with 15 participants, Scandinavia with 11 and France with five exhibitors.

"This year, the extended exhibition will feature well over 500 exhibitors, including up to 60 vessels on the specially-built pontoons," says Andrew Webster, Managing Director of organisers Mercator Media. "The growing contingent of international exhibitors and visitors makes participation in Seawork a sound business decision, saving time and money travelling. Being at Seawork is a time and cost efficient way to update and expand commercial networks across the world."

International flavour 

The diversity of products brought to the UK at Seawork indicates the breadth of the commercial marine industry worldwide and its international significance is underlined by the choice of many exhibitors to launch new products to the market at the exhibition.

From Germany, Torqeedo, market leader in the fast-growing marine electric engine industry, announces the launch of two new products at Seawork 2014. Its first ever Deep Blue inboard engine and a 40HP version of the revolutionary 80HP Deep Blue system will be unveiled at the exhibition.

UK Sales Manager for Torqeedo, John Arnold, says: "We are delighted to launch our two new Deep Blue engines at Seawork. We wanted to develop an inboard version for our commercial customers that offers all the usual Torqeedo Deep Blue benefits, such as being extremely powerful yet virtually silent and highly environmentally friendly.

"With the 40HP Deep Blue outboard, only one high voltage battery is required, saving money, weight and space in the boat. The fact that it is naturally more environmentally friendly and forward-thinking, as well as being much quieter than a petrol motor, is a huge bonus."

PM Shipping, also from Germany, is reaping the rewards of a hugely successful Seawork 2013, having since secured the shipment of four separate commercial workboats, and has re-booked for 2014.

Project Manager Luke Webster continued: "To secure so many bookings so quickly after exhibiting is real proof that Seawork is a vitally important show for us, so much so that we immediately renewed our stand for next year."

Seawork is one of the most significant exhibitions for Transas Marine of Sweden. One of the stand's highlights in 2014 will be a new version of the Transas Navi-Planner voyage planning software, recognised as one of the ECDIS market's most powerful charts and data management tools.

In addition to working with the Transas Admiralty Data Service (TADS), the new version of the Transas Navi-Planner is now optimized to handle Admiralty Vector Chart Service (AVCS) charts and permits. This functionality, developed in a close cooperation between the UKHO and Transas Marine, opens the doors for non-Transas ECDIS customers to use Navi-Planner as their tool for chart management and passage planning. This means that, regardless of the ECDIS type installed onboard, all users will get official charts to their ECDIS with only few clicks on the screen.

World leader in vessel monitoring and control systems, Maretron from Arizona, USA returns again to Seawork to realise global marketing opportunities. On the stand, visitors will find a range of sophisticated electronics including the MBB200C and TSM800C which both include Maretron's N2KView vessel monitoring and control software. Maretron will also display the TSM1330C, a 13.3" dedicated touchscreen that includes N2KView, providing a simple ‘touch' interface for monitoring and controlling critical systems from anywhere on the vessel.