TOC Events has announced the participation of three senior liner shipping executives as key speakers at the upcoming 14th TOC Americas event, which takes place in Cartagena, Colombia on 14-16 October.
Robbert van Trooijen, CEO, Latin America and Caribbean for Maersk Line, Poul Hestbaek, SVP Latin America West Coast & Caribbean at Hamburg Süd and Howard Finkel, executive vice-president trade division for Cosco Container Lines Americas will all share views on the changing face of regional container trade and transport in light of mega vessels, alliances and other fundamental shifts in liner shipping.
The global trend towards massive economies of scale in shipping – also to be discussed in depth at TOC Europe in London, 24-26 June – is already having a major impact on east-west and north-south container trade across the Americas. The expansion of the Panama Canal, now due for completion in December 2015, will create further opportunities for carriers to ‘size up and team up’.
Speakers at TOC Americas 2014 will analyse what this means for the region’s shipping networks, including both international and Intra-Americas trade, which is currently outpacing mature markets with a projected growth rate of 3.4 per cent for 2014.
Among other topics, the conference will take a close look at future transhipment strategies across Latin America. How will the new generation of large vessels impact the balance of direct call versus hub-and-spoke operations.
