Oi08: Oceans & Climate Change in Spotlight

This year's event is running under the overall theme of ‘Technology, Sustainability and the Oceans', with visitor pre-registration the highest it's ever been in the event's 30+ year history.

Highlights will include a Distinguished Lecture by Lord Browne of Madingley FRS FREng, who is President of The Royal Academy of Engineering and the former group Chief Executive Officer of oil and energy giant BP plc. He will deliver a presentation on Day 2 entitled ‘The Oceans and a global sustainable energy future'.

Day 1, meanwhile, will see keynote speakers set the scene, with Professor Robert Watson, the UK government's Departmental Chief Scientist, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) discussing ‘The Oceans and Climate Change' and Professor Jacqueline McGlade, Executive Director of the European Environment Agency talking on the subject of ‘Sustainability and Ocean Resources in the 21st   century'.

Also delivering keynotes will be Capt. Dana Goward, Assistant Comdt for Policy & Planning, and Director, Maritime Domain Awareness Program Integration at the US Coastguard; Dr Leo Roodhart, Vice President, GameChanger Group, Shell Technology Futures; and John Westwood, Managing Director, Douglas-Westwood Limited. Capt Goward will tackle ‘Maritime Domain Awareness - The Key to Maritime Safety, Security and Stewardship', Mr Westwood will discuss ‘Meeting Future Energy Needs' while Dr Roodhart's presentation ‘Meeting The Challenge' will discuss ocean technology, climate change, energy, security and environmental protection issues.

The event will be chaired by Dr Ralph Rayner, a renowned expert in the ocean science community. You can hear Dr Rayner discuss the themes in a podcast on the event website, or read a written Q&A interview with him.

Technical programme, exhibition and quayside displays

Oceanology International runs from Tuesday to Thursday, 11th-13th March at the London ExCeL venue, and will also feature a wide range of technical sessions running alongside an outstanding exhibition. The detailed technical programme for the conference is also available on the website, and features different themes each day.

Day 1 is entitled Energy from the Oceans; while Days 2 and 3 are respectively entitled The Oceans and Climate Change, and Environmental & Civil Security. Scientific and technical papers will demonstrate how the marine engineering, science and technology sectors are helping to deliver cutting-edge solutions in each of these  areas.

The show's available exhibition space of 7,184sq metres is sold out, with 533 exhibitors from 32 different countries participating. Country pavilions from Canada, France, Germany, The Netherlands and Spain will feature, alongside exhibiting organisations and companies including the European Commission, Fugro, Acergy, Gardline, Balmoral Offshore Engineering, Teledyne, Kongsberg Maritime, Sonardyne, IxSEA, DOF Subsea  SA,

CodaOctopus, Datawell, the Macartney Group, Reson AS and UTEC Survey.

In recognition of another crucial issue that spans all the industries involved in the ocean science and marine technology communities, the organisers have also designated Day 3 of Oceanology International as Careers Thursday, with the recruitment of fresh talent a priority throughout the sector. A wide range of universities have been invited to send graduates to the event with transportation supplied, with several taking up the opportunity. The show will also feature an area specifically for companies to post up their recruitment requirements, vacancies and opportunities.

Oceanology International also provides the unique sight - and one of its outstanding visual features - of exhibit-side ship displays. This year's event is no exception, with an impressive array of ships on the quayside at ExCeL, immediately adjacent to the exhibit area, including survey, research and support vessels. Some will be giving on-water demonstrations of their capabilities and equipment, and visitors can take the chance to view the equipment onboard, watch the on-water demonstrations and enjoy refreshments. A further feature will be a number of dockside demonstrations by exhibitors.

Oi08 will also see four special awards given out at the event - the ‘OI Lifetime Achievement Award', the ‘Alan Greig Memorial Prize', the ‘Bob Barton Memorial Award'; and the ‘AMSI Business Person of the Year 2008 Award'.