Last week the annual Connecticut Maritime Association Conference was held in Stamford, CT and, as in years past, Massachusetts Maritime Academy was in attendance. The majority of the juniors and seniors in the International Maritime Business program were joined by the five IMB host cadets and their Chinese roommates for the four hour bus ride to Stamford.We were entertained on the bus watching Wedding Crashers, Role Models, and Heavyweights. In the blink of an eye, were had arrived at CMA and were inside the Hilton hotel mingling with industry executives. Most of us were able to catch the last part of a presentation on China’s growing role in the shipping industry and the expected role they will play in the future. Subsequently, the Chinese students and a few of the cadets from MMA wound up in the delegates luncheon dining on clam chowder, chicken and vegetables, and a delectable chocolate cake. The Plimsoll award was given to industry members who made an impact on the shipping market in usual ways such as reducing the environmental impact of their fleet or providing better industry transparency.
After lunch the five exchange students joined Jon and I for a presentation on the impact of newly built ships entering the market fleet and the expected role that the gargantuan orderbook will play on market rates. After this presentation we all had the opportunity to walk around and speak to company representative about career opportunities. The primary focus of the conference is for companies to offer their services to other companies rather than to hire cadets but this provided a valuable networking opportunity for the cadets to get business cards of employers to contact in the future. The ride back included a stop at Uno’s Restaurant somewhere in Connecticut and I think we were all eager to hit the racks after such a long, exciting day!
2/c Mike Doren and 2/c Jon Foley are cadet hosts for the SMU students at MMA and will be documenting their semester experience.
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