CJC Director Ian Short participated in the recent International Maritime Forum event focusing on the maritime industry as working economy, held in Burgas on 25 June and organised by the Port of Burgas, the Bulgarian Shipmasters Association and Shippossible.

A large number of maritime industry representatives gathered in-person at ‘The Blue Future – Our Responsibility’, event, staged at the International Congress Center in the Port of Burgas to coincide with the Day of the Seafarer, 2021.

High level participants included Georgi Todorov, Bulgaria’s Caretaker Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, Dr. Maria Kaneva, Regional Governor of Burgas, and Farid Safarov - Director General of Digital Infrastructure at the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of Ukraine. The event also broadcast the address of Kitack Lim, Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) on the occasion of the International Seafarer Day.

In line with the event’s focus on the maritime industry as a working environment, however, continuing restrictions on international travel hindered some overseas participants from attending in person. Among them was Ian Short, CJC Director, who nonetheless took part in the event via video link to offer insights on a relevant London Arbitration Case Study covering ‘A Life and Death Story’, a case involving a Bulgarian shipowner and crew

Other presenters from afar were: Peter Sand, Chief Shipping Analyst, BIMCO, who explained how ‘Seafarers Deserve Support and Ships make the world go’; and John Dolan, Deputy Director of Loss Prevention, The Standard P&I Club, who described ‘Seafarers - drivers of standards’.

The event also provided an excellent opportunity to engage with issues specific to the Bulgarian maritime industry and the Black Sea region.

In-person presentations included one from Anton Antonov, Managing Senior Partner at Agency Eurobalkanconsult Ltd on Maritime Law and the Euro-Atlantic realities in the 21st century, and another from Master Mariner Alexander Alexandrov, on significant achievements of Bulgarian seafarers around the world, for example.

Closing remarks included a statement from the International Maritime Forum Burgas in support of Bulgarian institutions and the maritime community declaring seafaring as a “key profession” in the Republic of Bulgaria.