Abu Dhabi: The three-day Seatrade Middle East Maritime conference ended on Thursday in Dubai with participants discussing some of the important issues affecting the shipping and oil and gas industry.

On Thursday, panellists discussed about offshore oil and gas logistics and overcoming the challenges. It was moderated by Capt Gamal Fekry, Chief Executive Officer of Red Sea Marine Management.

Capt Fekry said that there is a need to have a body to represent the issues of offshore oil and gas sector to International Maritime Organisation (IMO). “It is the need of the hour as the industry is fragmented and there are no unified rules and regulations. This body will act as a spokesperson for the offshore industry and represent their issues to IMO,” said Capt Fekry.

He added that event was a success. “A lot of important discussions took place. There was a good response from participants.”

The conference started on Tuesday with a keynote speech by vice chairman of DP World by Jamal Majid Bin Thaniah. He said drop in oil prices will benefit countries like India and China which import oil and the Gulf States will not be affected as they have accumulated vast fiscal reserves during oil boom years.

A senior consultant to the Saudi Ports Authority said that Saudi Arabia is investing $30 billion in seaport infrastructure development as part of its five-year plan through a number of mega-infrastructure land and marine projects.

Speaking at the conference, Dimitris Kostianis, transport strategy adviser to the Saudi Ports Authority, said the kingdom was at a critical stage in its development enjoying sufficient port capacity at the national level to meet demand.

“As effective links in the transport chain, ports need to have good access and connectivity to hinterland road and rail networks, and good logistics facilities and services,” he said. “The master plans (for Saudi port expansions) foresee action in both areas in terms of concrete investment and high priority.”

On Africa, participants said that the continent can be challenging for international companies and each countries business and investment environment can vary greatly as well as presenting an array of operational and logistics complexities. However, they agreed that there are plenty of investment opportunities in Africa including in offshore oil and gas production and services, port development and operations and training and manpower services.

The event also recognised a number of companies and individuals who did exceptional work in the ports and shipping industry field.

The Seatrade Personality of the Year award for 2014 was presented to Admiral Mohab Mohammed Hussein Mameesh, Chairman and Managing Director of the Suez Canal Authority.

Admiral Mameesh has overseen the raising of $9 billion from Egyptian investors to fund a second channel parallel to the existing one that will be 72 kilometres in length. Together with deepening of the existing channel, this will reduce the time needed to transit the Suez Canal, from nearly 20 hours to 11 hours, allowing the number of daily transits to rise from less than 50 today to nearly 100.

The event was inaugurated by Sultan Bin Sulayem, chairman of DP World. More than 7,000 people attended it.