The Code in Practice

With SMM 2004 set to take place at the end of this month, it is time for the many exhibitors to ready their exhibits and themselves for the week-long frenzy of shipping and marine industry business activity. It is also time for visitors to SMM to acquaint themselves as to who and what will be waiting for them when they arrive in Hamburg. Consequently, this issue of The Motor Ship offers a preview of what will be on offer.

Throughout its 20-event history SMM has been growing, in terms of venue size, exhibitors and visitor numbers, industry focused special events, presence and importance within the global maritime sector. Increasing interest among the companies of various nations keen to exhibit is evident from the growing number and size of national pavilions spotlighting the capabilities of their shipbuilding and marine equipment industries.

This year Finland, for example, has considerably enlarged the area for its joint stand, while France, Austria, Poland and Switzerland will present themselves with national pavilions for the first time. China will also have a large national pavilion at SMM 2004.

Exhibiting under what is effectively a ?national umbrella? no doubt has its benefits for the individual exhibitor ? particularly the smaller ones ? in terms of cost, convenience and an enhanced presence. But do such alliances and national networks have a ?downside?, maybe with regard to the individual activities and multi-national business of any one company?

German Federal Government?s coordinator for the maritime sector, State Secretary Georg Wilhelm Adamowitsch believes not. “For me, a strong national network does not at all contradict companies’ international activities,” he says. “In fact, I believe that joint ventures and the formation of alliances can enhance the international presence of our companies, so I regard the strengthening of the national network as also providing a basis for enhancing the German maritime sector’s position in the international market.”

The Chief Executive of the UK?s Society of Maritime Industries, John Murray, echoes many of these sentiments in the “?Log off” at the back of this issue. He does, however, provide other ?food for thought?. Will the increasingly global approach of many companies eventually blur national distinctions and will a higher continental or ocean regional organisation initiative perhaps eventually defy national rivalries?