Standing out in a sea of maritime occasions 

As 2023 neared its shut, Marine Log completed up its convention calendar by drawing a file attendance for its lengthy operating FERRIES occasion with over 250 attendees—60 of them ferry operators.  

Whereas there are a number of maritime occasions on the calendar, starting from the tremendous colossal to the extremely specialised, our focus at our occasions is to deliver our viewers content material that they will study from, contribute to and care about.  

Whereas we haven’t fairly discovered the right recipe to the “good” maritime occasion, we’re working towards that purpose. This 12 months, we launched our first Ship Restore USA occasion again in June, which was a close to offered out success. We plan to deliver this occasion again to New Orleans subsequent June, the place we’ll proceed to give attention to ship restore, ship upkeep, and vessel through-life upkeep. And, constructing on this 12 months’s success, we’ll as soon as once more staff up with the Army Sealift Command.  

Previous to Ship Restore USA, we held our annual TTB (Tugs, Towboats & Barges) convention in March in Cell, Ala. On account of COVID, this was the primary in particular person, non-virtual TTB occasion that I used to be in a position to attend since its renaming from Tugs & Barges. After I got here onboard in 2019, I wished to open the occasion as much as the inland sector as properly since I felt—and nonetheless really feel—tugs and towboats can study lots from one another. To not point out, there are numerous widespread suppliers, rules, shipyards, and many others., concerned with each brown and blue water vessels right here within the U.S.  

TTB will make its return to Cell on March 6-7, the place we’ll give attention to assembly new market traits and desires.  

We wrapped up the 12 months, as famous, with FERRIES, which was once more held within the New York Metropolis space. Subsequent 12 months the occasion can be held in November in one other space the place ferries play a significant function on the regional financial system: Seattle. 

We all know that the maritime calendar is crowded. Our purpose is all the time to ship occasions that come as much as attendee expectations by delivering the best stability of classes realized from expertise, explorations of recent challenges and options and, in fact, networking alternatives. 

The important thing to reaching that stability is enter from our attendees and our readership — so in case you have ideas and convention content material and path to share with us, we actually do welcome and worth them.