AntwerpXL outlines conference agenda

The first day of the Antwerp-based event includes five sessions. The first – forecasting: managing the needs of breakbulk and project cargo shippers in the current multipurpose shipping market – will be moderated by Felix Schoeller, commercial director of AAL Shipping. It will feature industry experts including, Justin Archard, managing partner of One World Shipbrokers, and Susan Oatway, maritime consultant at Drewry.

The digitalisation session comprises a panel of Karel Van den Berghe, ceo of Globis Software; Kunal Singh, sales engineer at Navis; Valentin Carlan, researcher at the University of Antwerp; and Stijn Olbrechts, process and digital transformation owner at Lineas. The session will be moderated by Peter Bouwhuis, president and ceo of XELLZ Group.

The lunchtime session, Nextgen, features speakers Christa Sys, professor at the University of Antwerp, and Philippe Fierens, managing director of ExSeCo Belgium. They will discuss how to develop an agile workforce that is able to ‘think out of the box’, using new skills and competencies for a robust future breakbulk labour market.

The last session of the day will look at intermodal links, rail and barge transport, led by Katarina Stancova, senior mobility advisor at the port of Antwerp-Bruges. The panel includes Peter Larose, head of projects at Conti7; Edwin Moehlig, managing director at Rail & Sea; and Eloi Flipo, business development director at VNF.

Day two will start with a session on technology with Ben Swaelen, sales manager, and Nicolas Van der Wee, creative strategist, from icapps. They will discuss working towards a valuable digital solution; answering industry needs and desires. The session will cover the problems that can arise within logistics, debunking the myths about digitalisation, looking after our people and the world around us and how to future-proof the industry.

The pre-lunch session on sustainability will be led by Matthew Moss, knowledge transfer manager for maritime at Innovate UK KTN. He will discuss an outlook for developing a cost-effective and sustainable breakbulk logistics chain. The panel will include Bernard van Haeringen, sales manager at GoodFuels; Maja Felicia Bendtsen, chief business officer, bulk at the port of Roenne; Wim Dillen, international development manager at the port of AntwerpBruges; and Pascal Lammerts van Bueren, global director of Lubbers Logistics.

The conference will close with the forward-looking challenges and opportunities session – a review of trends, trade flows, opportunities and barriers to trade, as well as the overall economic outlook for breakbulk projects. The panel will be led by Catrien Scheers, ambassador at Fast Lines and includes Albert-Jan Ars, commercial manager at Katoen Natie Port Operations, and Yorck Niclas Prehm, head of research at Toepfer Transport.