This year’s conference fell under the theme “The world is changing”. Shipping business leaders, policy-makers and senior academics gathered at the International Maritime Organisation from 6^th – 8^th November for this event, which gave us the opportunity to interact with them and gain real-world insights.

I volunteered on the first day of the event— meeting and handing out flyers to delegates and alumni, many of whom had travelled in to London from all over the world (judging by their suitcases!)

Speakers and sessions

90 distinguished speakers shared their views about the changes in maritime and energy sectors. Sessions included: World Economy; Banking and Finance; Investments; Oil and Other Forms of Energy; LNG Trade and Shipping; Environment and Regulations; Technology and Innovation; Dry and Tanker Market; Banking, Capital Markets and Private Equity.

The conference began at 9am. Professor Costas Grammenos, Biennial Founder and Founding Chairman of the eponymous Centre for Shipping, Trade and Finance, opened proceedings by reflecting on the Centre’s outstanding work over the past 35 years. He said,

All our graduates are simply our students who are our high flyers, they look ahead and they look high and as we say here, he or she is ‘one of us’. But ultimately our students are our most precious product.

What I took away

Attending opened my mind to many new concepts— the maritime and energy sectors are undergoing rapid changes, we need to keep up our pace with the times and have confidence in the market.

Attending this event is a great motivation for us as current MSc Shipping, Trade and Finance students at Cass; I was deeply motivated by the achievements of our alumni and look forward to joining their ranks.

Huimin Hu, MSc Shipping, Trade and Finance (2020)