16 January 2006

DUKE OF EDINBURGH TO OPEN WMTC 2006
His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh will open the World Maritime Technology Conference (WMTC 2006) at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre on the afternoon of Monday 6 March 2006.

“We are delighted that His Royal Highness will be taking part in the opening ceremony for this week long event,” says Keith Read CBE, Chief Executive of The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) who are hosting and organising this, the second event in the global triennial WMTC series. “As an Admiral of the Fleet, Master of Trinity House, Honorary Fellow of IMarEST and with his long maritime associations – his ongoing connections and interest in Naval life; and as a recreational yachtsman; also through his long relationship with WWF, he is the ideal Patron for this milestone event. We greatly look forward to his opening address.”

Other speakers taking part in the opening plenary session include:

• Vice Admiral Conrad C Lautebacher Jr – Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator - "Climate change and the future direction of oceanography"
• Admiral Robert E Kramek – President and Chief Operation Officer, American Bureau of Shipping - "Security and developments in classification"
• Commissioner Joe Borg – Directorate-General for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, European Commission - "EEZ management and the future of European fisheries"
• Choo Chiau Beng, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Keppel Offshore &
  Marine - "Servicing the offshore oil and gas industry - shipyard's
  perspective"

A panel discussion with questions from the floor will follow the presentations.

The Session will be introduced by Maurice Storey - Chairman of Hatsu Marine Ltd and President of IMarEST President; the panel and discussion will be chaired by Frank Mungo – Director, Business Development, Naval Rolls-Royce plc.

WMTC 2006, with its theme ‘maritime innovation – delivering global solutions’ features a technical conference with keynote addresses; nearly 240 technical presentations by authors from 33 countries in ten subject-specific streams; poster sessions; a daily ‘innovation hour’; an exhibition; a programme of industrial visits; and a full social and networking calendar of events.

“It will capitalise on the role that London in particular, and the UK in general, plays in the maritime scene,” says Keith Read. “It is an ambitious venture designed to promote integrated solutions to industry-wide issues while assessing the impact on global economies now and in the future. Two months prior to the event opening we are busy handling delegate registrations from all over the world.

“In this global series we now have a platform that will enable the sector to give much greater visibility to the unfettered detail of science, engineering and technology research and development programmes.

“Never before has a maritime conference achieved the breadth and depth of WMTC 2006. It is not surprising therefore that registrations are coming in at a highly encouraging rate – we are looking forward to welcoming up to 1500 delegates in London at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in early March.”

WMTC features ten conference streams:

The event is held in partnership with 24 of the world’s leading maritime organisation and sponsored by ALSTOM, Inmarsat, Lloyd’s Register, P&O Princess Cruises, Rolls-Royce, ABS – American Bureau of Shipping, and UKHO – UK Hydrographic Office.

Full information on all aspects of WMTC 2006 are available at www.wmtc2006.com