With demand steadily growing, tank containers play a huge role in the intermodal freight transport industry. The Asian Tank Container Association (@tco) is coordinating a conference session, titled ‘Safe handling of liquids in Asia’ at Intermodal Asia 2015, which takes place at Shanghai World Exhibition and Convention Centre from 24-26 March.
The Asia tank container forum will examine the current situation regarding the transport of liquids in bulk in Asia. In particular, it will look at the potential for tank containers to shoulder a greater proportion of the load, and some the safety issues faced within the industry.
“The topic of safety is a very common topic at the moment” explains Reg Lee, President and Founder Member of @tco. “What we hope to come out of the forum is a better understanding of the benefits that tank containers offer to companies involved in the liquid supply chain in Asia.”
Peter Mackay, editor of Hazardous Cargo Bulletin, will be chair and moderator of the forum. He has been commentating on the industry through HCB for more than 20 years and before that held positions with Drewry Shipping Consultants and Petroleum Economics Ltd. He has also worked as a freelance analyst and journalist, and has contributed to other titles, including Lloyd’s List and Petroleum Review.
Confirmed panellists include Technical Director of @tco, Mr. Graham Wood; Director of Dow Chemicals Logistics in Asia, Ms. Doris Lee; Chief Design Engineer for CIMC (China International Marine Containers), Ms Jin Jing; and Mr. John Goa from the Association of International Chemical Manufacturers (AICM). Also to be confirmed will be a representative from a container shipping line.
Delegates expected to attend the tank container forum include @tco members, chemical companies and various suppliers and associated industries involved in the liquid supply chain.
“There will certainly be a focus on safe handling of chemicals so I would expect representatives of many Chinese chemical companies to attend, in order to better understand the benefits tank containers can offer to their liquid supply chain in Asia, ” adds Reg Lee. “I believe Intermodal Asia will help to bring tank containers to a wider audience, so as well as chemical companies, there may be other companies from the liquid supply chain.”
Intermodal Asia’s focus on tank containers will also include display models in the container park, and a number of associated exhibiting companies.
“With the demand for tank containers steadily rising, Intermodal Asia 2015 is looking forward to welcoming representatives from the tank container industry to share insights into this growing market, ” explains Intermodal Asia Event Director, Sophie Ahmed. “We are keen to demonstrate that Intermodal Asia strongly supports the tank container industry – we have even updated our logo to include a tank container.”
@tco is a non profit organisation promoting the safe use of tank containers. The organisation aims to assist all companies involved in the liquid supply chain in Asia to become safer and cleaner and help to reduce overall costs where possible.
Intermodal Asia is organised by Informa Exhibitions, in partnership with CCIA (China Container Industry Association) and the Integrated Transport Federation of the China Communications and Transportation Association (CCTA), as well as benefitting from the full support of the world’s largest container manufacturer, CIMC (China International Marine Containers).
The event is following in the successful footsteps of Intermodal Europe, which has already sold over 80% of its exhibition space for the 2015 event, to be held at the Hamburg Messe in Germany on 17-19 November.
“Jo”
