The dates have been moved forward

The dates of the second international conference and trade exhibition “Maritime Security & Defence” (MS&D) have been moved forward for organisational reasons, following consultation with high-ranking representatives of international navies. MS&D 2009 will now be held from 30 September to 2 October 2009 (previously scheduled for 6 to 8 October 2009), at the Hamburg Fair site. The organiser Hamburg Messe has brought in a second media partner alongside Monch Verlag, Bonn, represented by the specialist magazine NAVAL FORCES – that is the DVV Media Group GmbH with the publications Schiff & Hafen / Ship & Port.  The DVV Media Group will contribute to the SECURITY area with respect to civilian shipping and port security, while Monch Verlag will be responsible for the conference programme as a whole.

A working group to provide support for the contents of the conference and trade fair has been set up by the organiser HMC in advance of MS&D 2009. That provides the support of high-ranking security and defence experts from the navy, government institutions and industry to arrange the contents of conference and exhibition. The HMC delegates in the working committee are Bernd Aufderheide, President and CEO, and Peter Bergleiter, MS&D Project Director. Other members of the working group are the Conference Chairman Vice Admiral (ret.) Lutz Feldt, and the German Navy representative Captain Markus Krause-Traudes, who is responsible for this area at the Staff of the Federal Defence Ministry. The MS&D team also has advice from Dr. Stephan Hesselmann, the Maritime Economy Department Head at the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. Industry is represented by Dr. Henning Waschk of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), Jorg Ahrens of the shipyard Fr. Lurssen Werft and Peter Eikmeier of Atlas Elektronik. Another member of the working group is Jan Wiedemann, a media expert and the editor of the widely read international magazine NAVAL FORCES.

The general theme of the MS&D 2009 conference will be protection by naval forces and protection of naval forces, plus security for maritime transport in port, in transit to crisis regions and in the operations area itself. “The conference subjects follow the globally recognised approach of seeking solutions to shipping route security problems with coordination between the national and international levels,” said Vice Admiral (ret.) Lutz Feldt, MS&D Chairman. “That requires nationally coordinated action at a global level, something that still needs to be developed in many countries, especially by comparison with international cooperation.”

Jan Wiedemann, the Publisher of NAVAL FORCES and special adviser to MS&D, explained the development of the conference concept: “While MS&D 2008 mainly focused on SECURITY, since it was held concurrently with the civil shipbuilding fair SMM, MS&D 2009 will give equal attention to SECURITY and MARITIME DEFENCE.”

Though there are close links between the two areas, they will be treated in two parallel panels, because of their complexity. The conference will be opened by Rudiger Wolf, State Secretary at the Federal Defence Ministry.

The organisers have once again attracted eminent speakers, including high-ranking naval officers from a number of countries. For example Vice Admiral Wolfgang E. Nolting, Inspector of the German Navy, who will be giving an overview of the maritime security situation around the world. Admiral Paolo La Rosa, Chief of Staff Italian Navy, will explain the current security situation in the Mediterranean. 

The key issues of the Security Panels will include terrorism and combating piracy.  Responses and ways of containing these threats will be given by speakers from the Chinese, Australian and Nigerian navies. A focus will be the importance of security of shipping routes and ports for the development of world trade.

The Defence Panels will address the issues of crisis management and peace keeping operations. The programme will be chaired by Rear Admiral (uh) Ulrich Otto. 

The MS&D exhibition, like the conference, covers all areas of naval shipbuilding, security and defence technology. With exhibitors such as Fr. Lurssen Werft, a builder of fast patrol boats, corvettes, offshore patrol vessels (OPVs), minehunters, frigates and combat support ships, presenting their experienced gained in more than 130 years of naval ship building. As explained by Jorg Ahrens, Sales Manager of Fr. Lurssen Werft, “At times like these with threats to shipping routes, MS&D can become an important platform in the European area, for the exchange of experience, for development of defence strategies, and thus for improved security of shipping.”

The Bremen based company Atlas Elektronik GmbH presents high-tech maritime defence systems. The Hamburg company Jabsco showcases the LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device). This acoustic system, also known as the 'sonic cannon', was designed as a kind of megaphone for communication over long distances, but also has great potential as a non-lethal weapon to repel pirates and terrorists. A number of shipping lines are taking a very careful look at LRAD. Even insurers are recommending the system, says Ralf Lange, Sales Manager at Jabsco, which sells the LRAD at a price of about 65,000 euros. The device is designed and manufactured by American Technology Corporation, an acoustic specialist based in San Diego, California.

Source:  Transportweekly