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The first Global Maritime Environmental Congress (GMEC) will be held at CCH-Congress Center, Hamburg on 7 and 8 September 2010. It will aim to provide a platform for representatives of IMO (International Maritime Organization), the European Commission, governments, port industries, shipping and the shipbuilding industry to discuss what has been achieved and to set targets for 2020.

The Congress Chairmen will meet on Wednesday February 24th for detailed work on the contents of the five panels which are planned.

The meeting is to be held at the invitation of the Senate, represented by Hamburg's Economics Senator Axel Gedaschko. The GMEC International Conference will be held during SMM, the world's leading shipbuilding trade fair, at the Hamburg Fair site from September 7-10. Patronage of both events has been undertaken by Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Brief notes on the GMEC Chairmen who are meeting in Hamburg on February 24th:

* Emanuele Grimaldi, CEO of the Grimaldi Group. It is one of the largest privately owned shipping companies in the world, with a fleet of more than 120 ships and revenues of more than EUR 2 billion per annum.

* Dr. Corrado Antonini, Chairman of Fincantieri, Italy's largest shipbuilding company. Fincantieri is the world market leader in the segment of premium cruise vessels.

* Spyros Polemis, Chairman of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), the leading international shipowners' association. One of the main tasks of ICS is the protection of the marine environment.

* David Dingle, CBE, Chair of the European Cruise Council (ECC). The European cruise industry employs 311,000 people, and generated revenues of EUR 32.2 billion in 2008. David Dingle is also CEO of Carnival UK, a subgroup of the US shipowner Carnival Corporation, the largest cruise company in the world, with responsibility for P&O Cruises, Cunard, Princess Cruises and Ocean Village.

* Dr. Hermann J. Klein, a Member of the Executive Board of Germanischer Lloyd. The company is one of the Top Five ship classification societies with 173 offices in 75 countries, employing a total of 7,500 people.

* Bernard Meyer, Managing Partner of Meyer Werft, Papenburg, one of the world's biggest and most advanced shipyards. It has a workforce of 2,500 people. It is now owned by the sixth generation of the family, and has built 27 luxury liners so far.

* Tom Boardley, Marine Director, Lloyd's Register of Shipping, the leading ship classification society and independent risk management organisation.

* Jochen Deerberg, Owner & CEO Deerberg-Systems. This family business supplies environment-friendly waste management systems. It has now equipped more than 800 vessels, including 157 passenger ships, making it a leader in its field worldwide. Jochen Deerberg is responsible for the Organisers Office / Congress Programme of GMEC.

* Bernd Aufderheide, President and CEO of Hamburg Messe und Congress (HMC) - the organiser of GMEC.

"The aim of the Chairmen, and of GMEC, is to achieve further reductions in environmentally harmful emissions worldwide. For example, to substantially reduce the share of shipping in worldwide emissions of CO2 and harmful nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide and particulates. Sustainable waste management and sensitive handling of ballast water are vitally important for an intact maritime environment," Hamburg Messe und Congress said in a statement.

"We have made tremendous progress in environmental protection in the last 30 years," said Jochen Deerberg. "We want to talk about these successes at the conference, and about our strategy for the future. We can make international shipping even greener only if the whole industry works on this together."

Fincantieri Chairman Corrado Antonini added "We all want shipping to be progressive, green and economically attractive. In terms of technology, we are already on the right track."

"We are proud that so many high-ranking, environmentally conscious decision makers of the maritime industry are coming to GMEC. That is an important signal for the City of Hamburg as European Green Capital 2011," said Bernd Aufderheide, HMC President and CEO.

Subjects at GMEC:

Conference delegates can look forward to a full programme on both conference days, divided into five panels. The first of these focuses on the economic importance and ecological responsibility of the maritime industry as a whole. Further panels analyse past achievements and future challenges in reduction of emissions at sea, in ports, in ship design, and in international and regional legislation. The Chairmen also take on active roles as speakers in the course of the conference.

The provisional programme of GMEC is available at the following address below:

http://www.gmec-hamburg.com/gmec_de/homepage/program.html