Container owners from around the world will assemble at the annual General Meeting of the Container Owners Association (COA) at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Hamburg on Monday 16thNovember, on the eve of the Intermodal Europe 2015 exhibition and conference.
Open to members and non-members of the COA, the General Meeting will begin with a welcome, introduction and overview of the association’s recent and upcoming activities, by COA Chairman and COO of Seaco Global, Paul Merritt.
A host of speakers will deliver presentations throughout the day, addressing various topics including container management, finance, insurance and safety.
Dr. Jürgen Sorgenfrei, Director of Consulting Services, Global Trade & Transportation Practice, at IHS Global, will explore the global economic forecast and trends as well as different economic and trading scenarios, and how these will impact the container shipping market.
‘The Transformation Imperative in Container Shipping’ will be presented by Lars Kloppsteck, Co-lead of Global Shipping Practice, at Boston Consulting Group. He will discuss the outlook for key industry drivers, the possible impact on the market for container equipment and the clear need to transform container lines and alliances.
Container safety from an insurance perspective will be explored by Peregrine Storrs-Fox, Risk Management Director of TT Club, looking at container industry issues affecting container owners and learning from incidents and claims. Philippe Berard, Equipment & Depot Senior Manager of CMA CGM will address Convention for Safe Containers, looking at the current and next steps, and Standards for Design Type Approval and Safety Inspection, as well as presenting an update on CIC (Common Interchange Criteria).
Next-generation refrigerant alternatives for container refrigeration, and the safety concerns and other factors to consider when making future refrigerant choices, will be addressed by Michael Dormer, General Manager, Global Container Services of Carrier, USA.
A dedicated container floors and coatings session will be led by Nigel Stribley, Director at Blue Sky Intermodal and Moderator of COA Alternative Materials Group, looking at alternative container floor materials. Flat bamboo floors will be the focus for Dick Deng of CIMC Wood Development, while Frank Nachbar, Director of Container Engineering at Hapag Lloyd will discuss steel floors. The topic of ECO Hybrid floors will be addressed by Erik Kjellner of SP-Extrusion A/S Denmark.
A panel of industry experts, including container coatings manufacturers and container manufacturers, will discuss the current container coating regulatory situation in China and will aim to forecast how the industry will have to respond to regulatory changes.
The final topics of the day will cover container management and operations including container weight verification, presented by Peregrine Storrs-Fox, and a status report on the development of COA/TT Club Best Practice Guidelines for Non-Operating Reefers, presented by Uffe Ernst-Frederiksen, Head of Cargo Management at Maersk.
A post-meeting drinks reception will give all attendees the opportunity to network and discuss the day’s topics.
For further information please contact Patrick Hicks at the COA Secretariat on secretary@
