Tanker Management Conference

Venue: Athens, Greece

The volatility in the tanker charter rates has affected the profitability of shipping companies. Therefore, these companies need to understand what the financing options are available to expand their businesses and fleet, the most efficient and cost-effective ways to run their operations and the availability of vessels.

Researches from the industry research group Bassoe show that VLCC rates has declined more than 40% in 2008 compare to 2007. With the current economic crisis the tanker market is expected to suffer unless a pre-strategy is implemented. 2009 is expecting to be a very challenging year for the tanker industry. Factors such as the fall of crude demand, tonnage availability and the increase of piracy will determine the prosperity of the tanker industry.

Throughout 2 days, around 100 senior representatives from tanker ship owner and management companies (include MD's. CEOs, CFOs and Directors) will have the opportunity to hear from your industry peers and discover the hottest developments and future developments on the tanker sector:

• Discovering the factors influencing the oil and gas prices
• Understanding the global demanding for oil and gas products and its impact on your shipping operations
• Examining the tanker industry: supply vs demand in 2009
• Hearing the tanker order book and shipyard capacity
• Determining the availability and costs of financing

Additional topics that will be discussed:

• Explore the ability of banks to finance ships
• Predicate when funding is likely to be available in the future
• Understand the availability of private equity and IPOs
• Learn what is the impact of re-routing and piracy on your costs structure and shipping operations
• Explore the best maintenance procedure
• Energy commodities trading: Trends in product sophistication offerings
• Manage costs and prepare for recovery
• Understand to what extend the economic climate has affected liquidity in the shipping industry
• Explore the current market conditions; including how and why they have changed
• Get realistic price predictions over the next five years