Friday 18th November 2016, University of Plymouth Shipping Society (UPSS) hosted a conference entitled ‘Bringing the shipping industry and Plymouth Students together on common ground’ where they brought in speakers from across the shipping industry to Plymouth University from Oslo (Norway), London and Plymouth.
The conference was free and open to everyone from SPNL as a part of the events organised by the SPNSW this year. It was also open to everyone studying maritime related coursed both bachelor and master level at the university, with the aim of inspiring fellow students.
Andreas Svenningsen Hjelle, Chairman of both UPSS and SPNSW provided an introduction and welcomed the around 80 students, guests and speakers who turned up to a fully booked event.
First speaker, Mr. Bill Box, Senior Manager of Intertanko held a presentation headlined ‘the Commercial Side of Tanker Shipping’ where he described the role of the organisation.
“You are the future of the industry” – Bill Box
Beatrice L’Orsa Mortensen, Team Leader of United European Car Carriers (UECC) addressed the second topic where she spoke about ‘the RoRo industry’ and focused on her trade areas – Norway and the Baltics as well as their new vessels fuelled by LNG, first of their kind. She also gave the students a very insightful talk surrounding her career path after she graduated from Plymouth University herself in 2005 from which he holds a BSc in Maritime Business and Maritime Law.
“There is always a position for you in the industry and when you graduate think outside the box” – Beatrice L’Orsa Mortensen
After lunch, Chairman of PYNDA, Han Ozturk, held a short presentation about the alumni organisation and the aim to continue friendship between the current and past maritime students from Plymouth.
Michael Newman from Fearnley LNG then held his presentation headlined ‘the LNG Industry’ which gave insight into the work as an LNG shipbroker. He talked about the development of the LNG industry, the spot market and the bespoke trades. He presented the current challenges and touched on Floating Storage and Regasification Units (FSRUs) as well as LNG bunkering, both with increasing interest globally driven by a growing environmental awareness in the industry.
Final speaker was Charles Patterson from the local Plymouth law firm Davies Johnson, where he works as a solicitor. He spoke of their legal work and aspects related to maritime law. Regulations, personnel injury and their presence in yacht and cruise industry was highlighted.
The conference was concluded with Maritime Business Program Leader, Dr. Sarah Tuck, thanking the students responsible for putting the conference together and for organising such an excellent event for their fellow students and others with an impressive mix of industry representatives.
In the evening, there was a closed dinner where the committee had invited the speakers, followed by a networking event at Plymouth Gin distillery for those who had signed up.
Program Leader, Dr. Sarah Tuck stated to the university Faculty of Business Insider:
“I was immensely proud of the hard work and professionalism displayed by the chair and committee of the Shipping Society, but I also wish to thank Kelly Smith and the Faculty of Business for their support and backing for the Conference. This was in all senses a partnership between the Faculty, the students and the industry.”
Chairman of UPSS and SPNSW, Andreas Svenningsen Hjelle said the following to the FOB Insider:
“When I took over as the chairman of the Shipping Society this spring, I had one goal and that was to take the society to the next level. I am proud to say that I believe we have achieved that goal and I am very satisfied with our work. I would like to thank the entire committee for their commitment to the conference and for their work “behind the curtains”. They all made sure we excelled this year! I would also like to thank all the speakers that attended as well as our fellow students, lecturers and industry representatives in the audience for coming. You all contributed to a great day, and I would like to say we have indeed contributed to putting the maritime studies in Plymouth “on the map” for shipping professionals. We hope to repeat the success in the near future.”
UPSS and SPNSW want to thank everyone that attended and especially a big thank you to Kelly Smith with the support and to the speakers who took time out of their busy schedule to attend the event. We hope for the success to inspire similar events in the future.