The Seventh edition of the Gulf Maritime Exhibition, the Middle East’s premier maritime event dedicated to meeting the complete requirements of the commercial, government, and military maritime industry, concluded successfully at Expo Centre Sharjah on December 16, 2009. Held under the patronage of His Highness, Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Bin Sultan Al Qassimi, the Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah, the exhibition was organized by Expo Centre Sharjah.

The 7th Gulf Maritime held in Sharjah, was a success. Spread across 4,000 square meters in the Expo Centre Sharjah Hall 2. The exhibition featured 85 companies from 20 countries and the displays at the exhibition include Deck machinery and other vessel equipment, Docking equipment, Electronics, Communication and navigation systems, Engine and propulsion systems, Fuel and lubricants, Ride control systems, Sound and vibration control systems, Marine interiors, Paints and coatings, latest vessel building designs and technology, equipment for fishing, Offshore support vessels, cargo ships, tankers, tugs, ferries, and patrol boats, Ship repair and port operations products, and Cargo handling services.

Officially inaugurated by Engineer Sultan Abdullah Al Mualla, Director General, Sharjah Municipality in the presence of senior personnel from assembled trade, visiting professionals, senior officials from Expo Centre Sharjah and the media. “The regional maritime sector is currently experiencing phenomenal growth,” said Mr. Ahmed Mohammed Al Midfa, Chairman of SCCI after the opening ceremony. The three-day event attracted 1890 trade visitors from the maritime industry from 40 countries. Of the total visitors, 1,160 visitors were from the GCC States.

A majority of the remaining visitors were from Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, France, Germany, India, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Lebanon, Malaysia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Russia, Seychelles, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UK, USA and Yemen.

Gulf Maritime 2009 has proven its business worthiness in terms of business, sales & distributorship generated by the participants. A good number of exhibitors have implied their participation for the next event.

The Exhibition attracted a number of new exhibitors, which includes A.R.S.Technologies, Advanced Watertek, AirCompreesor,Albratos, Aqua Logistics, ASRY, Atlas Hydrographic Gmbh, Azcue Bombas, Batservice Holdings, Coppus, Dose, Emirates Inflatable,EIMA,Emphor fzco,Epak Gmbh, Expert Marine Services,Fain Fire & Safety, Fischer Panda, Francis, Gefico,Gitiesse srl,,Gulftainer,GWK UK, Hamriya Free Zone,Hico Group,Hondex Electronics, HP Hi Pressure SRL, Oman Dry Docks,Goltens, Noreq A/S, Ulstein Middle East, OMT International, Zamil offshore.