The "6th Blue Shipping Summit 2016" was held on 6 June, the opening day of the Posidonia 2016 Exhibition, at the Athens Hilton Hotel. The landmark event was sponsored this year by Tsavliris Salvage.

The conference was titled "Salvaging the Environment" and focused on future trends and challenges of the shipping industry with a particular emphasis on the new regulations as well as implementation of global environmental issues in shipping today. The ever increasing regulations and technological breakthroughs have further burdened an already challenging business climate.

Chairman of the conference Mr George Tsavliris said: "Although the shipping industry has shown a significant sensitivity in adopting measures to protect our marine environment, it needs to become far more proactive in preventing pollution and in addressing the industry's ecological impact".

Following the adoption of the Paris Climate Change Agreement in December 2015, the international shipping industry is working on how to further contribute to the global efforts to address climate change and see "Where is Shipping heading?"

High-level speakers and conference panelists contributed to a day packed with exchange of experiences and a stimulating discussion before a distinguished audience.  Speakers included Christine Berg - Head of Unit, European Commission for Safety & Ship Source Pollution, Katharina Stanzel –Managing Director of INTERTANKO, Chris Wiernicki – Chairman of IACS, Philip Embiricos – Past President of BIMCO, etc.

Ms Berg in her speech highlighted all the environmental priorities of the EU and mentioned that "achieving a robust global data collection scheme is a Commission's priority for the upcoming discussions in the IMO. We count on industry support for the adoption of harmonised verification guidelines at the IMO to allow a meaningful monitoring of compliance at global level".

The successful forum was organised by Jannis Kostoulas, President of Mare Forum and by Karen Kokabi, Managing Director of Blueship.