More than 20 maritime and marine fuel experts from oil majors, shipping lines, bunker traders, bunker suppliers, and classification societies around the world will meet in Singapore this week to speak on the latest international trends and developments in bunkering, and the challenges facing the industry in the new millennium. The event is the Singapore International Bunkering Conference (SIBCON) 2000, to be held from 28-29 September 2000 at the Shangri-La, Singapore.

Mr Yeo Cheow Tong, the Minister for Communications and Information Technology, will open the Conference as the Guest-of-Honour on 28 September 2000.

Organised by the MPA and currently into its 11th year, SIBCON has become a major platform for international shipping and bunkering experts to come together to identify, address and discuss key issues facing the industry. This year, the 2-day conference will focus on the theme, "Bunkering Challenges in the New Millennium", and will feature four main sessions, namely "Trends in Shipping and Bunker Industries", "Regulatory Requirements of Bunker Trade", "Country Round-ups", and "E-commerce in Bunker Business".

The keynote addresses will be delivered by Mr Lee Tzu Yang, Chairman, Shell Companies in Singapore, and Mr Peter Healey, Director, ExxonMobil Marine Fuels, on 28 and 29 September respectively. Mr Lee will be speaking on "Changes in the East Asian Refinery Industry and its Impact on Fuel Oil Market", while Mr Healey will be addressing the topic of "Trends and Challenges in the Marine Fuels Industry". The 2 keynote addresses will help set the stage for the presentations and discussions that follow.

E-commerce in the bunker industry will be highlighted as one of the main topics of discussion, with an entire session devoted to it. Like many other commercial sectors that are already going full force on the path of the New Economy, the bunker industry is also re-examining the way it does business using IT. Some in the industry have seized the initiative to sprint ahead in the "dot.com" race. The inclusion of this issue in SIBCON 2000's agenda is expected to generate much interest and debate.

In addition, SIBCON 2000 will also be throwing the spotlight on some of the key bunker markets in Asia, such as those of China and South Korea. This seeks to provide the international bunkering community with a better understanding of the development and growth of the bunker industry in the Asian region.

Also expected to stir interest, will be the discussions on the regulation of the bunker trade. One of the papers to be presented in this session looks at the "Impact of IMO Regulations on the Bunker Industry". The paper, by Mr Zafrul Alam (from the MPA and also Vice Chairman of the Marine Environment Protection Committee of the International Maritime Organisation), will outline and examine a draft IMO convention on liability for bunker oil pollution damage, as well as the 1997 Protocol (Annex VI) of MARPOL73/78, and the possible impact of these 2 conventions on the bunkering industry.

As a special feature, the MPA and the Shell Companies in Singapore will be jointly organising an out-at-sea Oil Spill Exercise on 30 Sep 2000. SIBCON delegates are invited to participate as observers.

SIBCON continues to draw great interest and participation from an international audience. To date, the Conference has attracted more than 360 participants from many countries, including Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, UAE, UK and USA.

Through the organisation of major international port and maritime-related conferences such as SIBCON, the MPA aims to further raise Singapore's profile as a world-class port and leading international maritime centre (IMC).

End of Release.