Ocean Business Celebrates International Success

Ocean Business 2019, which took place at the NOC in Southampton from 9-11 April, has broken attendance records again with the greatest number of exhibitors, visitors and international representation yet. The show has become a landmark international event with a staggering 41% of all visitors coming from outside the UK.

Ocean Business’ Event Director, Cheri Arvonio, comments, “We are delighted with the success of this year’s show. With such a great representation from international exhibitors and visitors, the show really has been recognised as the global ocean technology event of the year. We had some outstanding training and demonstrations, with autonomous vehicles being a particular highlight. To accommodate all of these vehicles, we fitted an extra pontoon this year and this proved an essential feature with so much dockside activity. Once again, show on show, we are inundated with positive feedback from both exhibitors and visitors.”

With over 360 international exhibitors, this was the biggest exhibition at Ocean Business yet. This growth was matched by the number of visitors which was up 5% on the previous show, with 4674 attendees across the 3 days. These visitors came from 69 different countries around the world - further demonstrating the show’s international success.

Ocean Business certainly did not disappoint when it came to networking and co-located events, with Phil Johnston, BD at Autonaut saying, “Ocean Business is not only the best event in our calendar, but also the most enjoyable! A great balance of clients, collaborators, suppliers and everybody with a keen interest in ocean technology.” Highlights of the co-located events programme included Enterprise Europe’s B2B business matchmaking event, the ATLAS workshop, Marine South East’s innovation-focused event, and a number of sessions presented by the NOC.

The sixth Offshore Survey conference also received much praise from delegates, with Vivian R. A. Mason, MD at Geomatics Engineering & Surveying Solutions, commenting, “This was my first time at an Ocean Business conference, and most definitely will not be my last.”

As well as the many high profile meetings and associated events, Ocean Business hosted a special reception to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the date that the UK’s National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) came in to being. The NIO was later absorbed in to the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences which became the National Oceanography Centre. Versha Carter, Group Director of Ocean Business stated ‘It was our honour to host a number of prestigious guests who were at the forefront of oceanographic research many years ago. It was particularly touching to witness the respect that these scientists and researchers still hold with some of today’s esteemed professionals.’ A special thank you to Ed Hill who made a special address to the delegation and assisted with the official cake cutting ceremony’

Ocean Careers once again proved a valuable opportunity for students seeking a career in marine technologies, with workshops and one-to-one sessions providing the chance to explore careers in detail.

Several companies have already requested to book their stand for the next Ocean Business show, taking place in 2021. Full details about dates and stand availability will be released in the next few weeks.

www.oceanbusiness.com