CONFERENCES & MORE

The Luxembourg Maritime Cluster organizes different types of events each year. Find all below about our conferences, webinars, workshops…

Click here to read about our New Members’ Event an other initiatives.

NEXT CONFERENCE:

SPACE & BUSINESS AIRCRAFT

December 13, 2023, at 17:00, at the BIL.
Registration form and program below.

Event in English and in French.

↓ PAST EVENTS ↓

HYDROGEN EVENT — 20/11/2023

The European Network of Maritime Clusters (ENMC) organized jointly with the Cluster Maritime Luxembourgeois (CML) (𝗖𝗠𝗟) a panel discussion on Hydrogen: The Future of Shipping? Belgium & Luxembourg’s place in the Geopolitics and Geoeconomics of Hydrogen on November 20th, 2023, in Brussels, in parallel to the European Hydrogen Week, at the Luxembourg Embassy in Brussels.

H.E. Jean-Louis Thill, Ambassador of Luxembourg in Brussels, gave the 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘤𝘩 and introduced our speakers and our moderator Professor Mikaa Blugeon-Mered, who returned from a mission in Antarctica the day before.

Mikaa Blugeon-Mered gave an introduction on 2030 Hydrogen Target Unlikely to be Delivered: Why and How Could Benelux save the EU? and before the panel discussion, the speakers gave a short presentation. Roy Campe — CMB.TECH, presented the diversity of activities of the company and the different transport modes powered by hydrogen. Nicolas Brahy — Hy24, presented the fund and projects, such as H2 Green Steel, which will produce green steel, reducing CO₂ emissions by up to 95 percent compared to traditional steelmaking. Luc Arnouts — Port of Antwerp-Bruges, discussed the transition of the Port towards a sustainable future with a new fleet, hydrogen views, and the positioning as a hub.

🌊 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝘆𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲:
– Enough with political divisions and constructed oppositions; everything is now in place to start going big and decarbonizing as fast as possible.
– Ports are ready to take a leading role, both on hydrogen imports — by developing and adapting their infrastructure to welcome increasingly complex green and synthetic molecules come 2030 — and on domestic hydrogen production — by fostering local circular business models, innovation, and by acting as early-adopters of key hydrogen technologies such as hydrogen-powered tug boats, offshore wind service shuttles, hydrogen cranes, support trucks, automated container dispatchers, and so on.
– Benelux ports such as Antwerp-Bruges, Rotterdam and Amsterdam are leading this scale-up and paving the way for other European ports to follow suit, and Luxembourgish actors in shipbuilding, fleet management, legal advisory and multimodal fluvial and road logistics are supporting this change, too.

Malte Brandes, Managing Director of Meyer Neptun (part of Meyer Group) and CML board member gave the 𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘤𝘩, and mentioned the challenges faced by a company building the world’s largest cruise ships.

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AUTUMN CONFERENCE — 14/11/2023

The Cluster Maritime Luxembourgeois organized jointly with the French Embassy in Luxembourg, the Autumn Conference, on November 14th, 2023, at the residence of H. E. Claire Lignières-Counathe, Ambassador of France in Luxembourg.

This conference highlighted French and Luxembourgish synergies in the maritime sector through the companies’ activities in both countries and their maritime Clusters collaborating well through the European Network of Maritime Clusters (ENMC).

H. E. Claire Lignières-Counathe gave an Opening Speech welcoming the participants, and two presentations followed it:

– Patrick Belenfant, Director of Bourbon Wind (part of BOURBON), discussed their activities, particularly floating winds. The company has well-known expertise in this field and installed floating winds around Europe. With this recent technology and still improving, they are confronted with many challenges, such as 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴’ 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 (𝘌𝘗𝘊𝘐) 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘪𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴…

Fernand Bozzoni, Chairman of SOCATRA and of the Vedettes de Paris, discussed the green transition. He shared his point of view as an owner of a shipping company confronted with the lack of support for investing in greener but more expensive vessels, with fewer capacities due to the space taken by the alternative fuels, and bunkers costs multiplied by three in the future. The situation remains without any answers, and accordingly, the following question is: 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴, 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘦?

Before concluding, Frédéric Moncany de St-Aignan, took the floor to discuss more in detail the French and Luxembourgish maritime synergies at the European level and reminded the audience of the importance of the Clusters, and in our case, our national maritime Clusters, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴.

Then, Fabrice Maire gave the Closing Speech, during which he thanked Frédéric Moncany de St-Aignan for all his work during his mandates as Chairman of the Cluster Maritime Français, and wished him good luck for the new adventures coming. H.E. Claire Lignières-Counathe thanked the participants and invited them to a cocktail. We thank H.E. Claire Lignières-Counathe and the Embassy team for the warm welcome and collaboration with the Cluster Maritime Luxembourgeois!

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MARITIME WORKSHOP — 12/10/2023

The Cluster Maritime Luxembourgeois organized its first 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽 on October 12th, 2023, at the House of Training — Chamber of Commerce.

👉 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲 👈

By Professor Jeroen Pruyn from Delft University of Technology.

During an entire day, 18 participants with different backgrounds and specialties from our company members (banks, law firms, shipowner companies, space companies, and inland navigation) challenged themselves through the 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲 to understand all the parameters that a shipowner must take into account to get profits: 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘴 (𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦, 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘥…), 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴/𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴, 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 (𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘢 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦), 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘰, 𝘦𝘵𝘤.

It was an intensive and immersive session through software developed by Professor Jeroen Pruyn, which allowed the candidate to create a simulation on one year of their business plan.

At the end of the day, they understood the difficulties of managing a fleet, the constraints of the shipowners in a competitive world, and how wrong choices can lead to bankruptcy.

We thank the Professor for this very interesting session, the participants for their participation, and we look forward to organizing a second 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽 shortly!

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MARITIME DECARBONIZATION — 11/10/2023

The Cluster Maritime Luxembourgeois and the Luxembourg Centre for Logistics & Supply Chain Management organized a hybrid event on 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗵𝗶𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 on October 11th, 2023, at the CAVE LAB of the LCL — University of Luxembourg. This hybrid conference was held the day before the 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱 that the Cluster organized for its members with the Professor Jeroen Pruyn.

Professor Jeroen Pruyn gave a brief presentation about decarbonization in shipping, the challenges, and shared about the thesis of his Ph.D. researchers, such as: 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯… Then, Hector Firino Martell, Fleet Manager at Socatra, presented the strategy of the company in the  green transition and the concrete actions that Socatra carries out: 𝘔𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘭 𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘶𝘦𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 with 6 methanol MR tankers ordered for 2025-2026, 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥-𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 for which the estimation is of 7% fuel savings.

Socatra is the shipowner company from which 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 is part, the company that represents the Chairman of the Cluster Maritime Luxembourgeois and of the European Network of Maritime Clusters, Fabrice Maire. Socatra was created in 1977 and is still a family business. They own 12 vessels, which sail around the world.

Then, two PhD students of the Luxembourg Centre for Logistics & Supply Chain Management — Benny Mantin, presented their research related to maritime and logistics: 𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 by Neeraj Podichetty and 𝘐𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 by Saber Mousavi.

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HYDROGEN CONFERENCE — 20/06/2023

On June 20th, 2023, the Cluster Maritime Luxembourgeois & the Spuerkeess jointly organized the Hydrogen: The Future of Shipping? conference. This event aimed to highlight the Geopolitics and Geoeconomics of hydrogen and the place of Luxembourg in it. We had the honor to count on the participation of Minister Claude Turmes, Ministère de l’Énergie et de l’Aménagement du Territoire, Mikaa Mered, Sciences Po Paris, and Herbert Jost, DEME Group.

Mikaa Mered, gave a fascinating and dynamic presentation, Geoeconomic & Geopolitics of the AlternativeFuels: the Hydrogen Factor. He provided an overview of hydrogen, including the lack of common policies, the critical metals supply, and the risks. He reminded us of the undeniable place of the maritime sector in the transportation and trade of this alternative fuel and the opportunities to seize. Everything is still to be made. Then, Herbert Jost presented Green Molecules for Europe; DEME’s green hydrogen projects in the MENA Region and Beyond.. This presentation was about DEME’s « Hyport » projects in Oman, Egypt, and Morocco. The projects aim to have a complete green hydrogen value chain. He also mentioned critical factors for the success of such projects and their developments by others: lack of investments and guarantees, equipment costs, technological capabilities…

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OFFICIAL MISSION IN DUBLIN — 12-14/06/2023

On June 13th, 2023, the delegation visited the Port of Dublin. The participants were welcomed on a boat to visit the site. At the same time, split into small groups, the port authorities explained the port’s activities to the participants. They saw several vessels, including a Seatruck Ferries, a company acquired by CLdN end of 2022.  Then, the delegation visited MV Sixtine, a CLdN vessel. The participants were lucky to discuss with the captain, who took the time to answer questions and share his experience.

During the Luxembourg-Ireland Economic Forum, the Luxembourg Maritime Cluster co-organized the Navigating New Trade Realities: The Future of Shipping and Logistics Seminar. The session was in two parts: the first discussed an essential matter for trend, the Windsor Agreement, which will have a considerable impact. The second part focused on energy transition. We tried to keep a dual approach to show that the challenges are the same to reduce emissions in the Maritime & Logistics industries, but the realities and ways to proceed differ.

With the participation of Manifests Ireland, Seatruck Ferries, the Irish Department of  Transport, Bureau Veritas, d’Amico, Wallenborn.

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TRANSPORT LOGISTICS — 09-12/05/2023

The Cluster Maritime Luxembourgeois asbl was with a stand at Transport Logistics 2023 in Munich.

It was the opportunity to represent the #maritime sector with other stakeholders from the #logistics sector under Luxembourg’s pavilion. Some members of the #Cluster were with a stand, such as CLdN, CFL multimodal, Luxport-Group, Stena Line.

See you in 2025!

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ACCOMPANIED VISIT AT ANTWERP-BRUGES PORT — 28/05/2023

The Cluster Maritime Luxembourgeois asbl organized an Accompanied Visit at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges on April 28th, 2023. The group comprised several Cluster members, the Luxembourg maritime administration, and the Business Club Belgium-Luxembourg.

The participants had the luck to meet the maritime authorities from the Port, which gave them a presentation. They talked about their activities and specificities, the merger, and their aims for the future.  After the presentation of the port authorities, the participants visited the port and a CLdN vessel.

We thank our Vice-President, Michel Cigrang, for making this Accompanied Visit possible and showing the participants the CLdN’s business activities! And thanks to the participants for joining us!
Bourbon Luxembourg Services, DEME Group, Intershipping, Jan De Nul Group, Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, Marsh, Kouros, Luxembourg Stock Exchange, Meyer Neptun, and Pinsent Masons. LinkedIn post

CYBERSECURITY CONFERENCE — 07/02/2023

On February 7th, 2023, the Cluster Maritime Luxembourgeois asbl and the Embassy of Belgium in Luxembourg, held a conference about Cybersecurity in the maritime sector, at the residence of H.E. Thomas Lambert, Ambassador of Belgium to Luxembourg.

The discussion was led by the moderator Melanie Delannoy (Kleos Space). After the opening speech of H.E. Thomas Lambert, the conference started with the insurance market and coverage in cybersecurity given by Anne-Sophie Coppens and Charlotte van Bouwel (Marsh). It was followed by a video presentation about the Cyber resilience strategy of the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, given by Yannick Herrebaut.

The European Space Agency (ESA) took part in the conference. Jean-Luc Trullemans provided insights about the risks faced by autonomous vessels and the vulnerability of space and shipping in front of cyber threats. The guests had the honor to count on the participation of Admiral De Beurme, who gave the point of view of The Belgian Navy. He highlighted the necessity of having a multi-domain approach to have the capacity to face threats.

Before concluding, RHEA Group, represented by Pascal Rogiest, presented their activities and works already achieved in the maritime sector. After a Q&A session, David Lutty, Vice-President of the Luxembourg Maritime Cluster, closed the conference. The event continued with a networking cocktail.

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GREEN BONDS PRESENTATION — 25/10/2022

On October 25th, 2022, the Cluster Maritime Luxembourgeois asbl and the Luxembourg Stock Exchange jointly organized a presentation at the Cercle Münster with a focus on sustainable debt instruments that are instrumental in funding the retrofits of vessels and the adoption of clean-reliable technologies in the maritime sector by 2030.

The event gathered almost 40 people from the local shipping ecosystem around the table, notably shipowners, bankers, lawyers, and Luxembourg maritime administration. The banks and law firms present during this event have decided to join forces with the Luxembourg Stock Exchange to ease the issuance process for shipping companies through a one-stop-shop solution. The Maritime Affairs are currently working on a green shipping plan and paying particular attention to this initiative.

Clément Drescher, Sustainable Finance Specialist, gave us interesting insights on the current landscape of sustainable finance in the maritime sector with a specific focus on sustainability-linked bonds and explained how the LuxSE can support companies in their sustainability journey.

We thank our Cluster’s members for their participation: CLdN, Cobelfret , d’Amico, DEME, Euronav, Intershipping, Jan De Nul Group, Leyer Neptun, Stena, and the LuxSE team for this collaboration.

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↓ For more information about our previous conferences/meetings read our Activity Reports ↓