BUILDING BRIDGES TO THE FUTURE

We’ve officially entered 2023 and what a year it is shaping up to be. While many economists are predicting a recession sometime this year, projects continue to be greenlighted, signaling a period of prosperity for those in our project cargo and breakbulk market. This issue dives into new horizons for project development, building bridges to a future of opportunity, albeit with some bumps along the way.

Of course, this is the Middle East issue as we approach the seventh edition of Breakbulk Middle East, exhibition and conference, February 13-14 in Dubai at the Dubai World Trade Centre. Here, executives who represent key sectors across the industry will gather on the main stage to discuss the topics deemed most important by the event’s Program Advisory Board. The board includes representatives from Fluor, Air Products, DHL Global Forwarding, Myrcator Marine & Cargo Solutions, BBC Chartering, DB Schenker Middle East, ADNOC Logistics & Services, and DSV. (Yes, that’s board member Mohammad Jaber from DSV on the cover!)

In this issue, you’ll find an extensive package of stories beginning on page 25 designed to build the bridge to what’s to come on the main stage. First up is “New Energy Frontier in the GCC,” an eyeopening look at offshore wind potential by Breakbulk senior reporter Simon West. At first glance, offshore wind seems like a non-starter in the region, West says, but with a new partnership between global clean energy operator Masdar and Abu Dhabi’s National Petroleum Construction Company to explore offshore wind opportunities in the UAE, the picture may be very different by the end of this decade.

Other stories in this section include “Unlocking Trade Potential” through digital solutions at MEA ports and terminals, “Servicing India’s Oil Bonanza,” featuring J. M. Baxi Heavy’s Sameer Parikh who is on the front lines of the boom and whose company is one of the more than 120 exhibitors at Breakbulk Middle East, and “Hydropower: Africa’s Big Gamechanger,” paving the way toward the continent’s electrification in projects big and small.

Then there’s the bridge to close the diversity divide, spearheaded by Breakbulk’s Women in Breakbulk initiative.

This issue includes a feature story written by Asma Ali Zain entitled “Breakbulk Must Bridge Gender Divide,” with commentary from Rania Tadros of Stephenson Harwood, L.L.P. in Dubai and Stephanie Schooley of Petrofac. And don’t miss Breakbulk newcomer Christina Struller from UPS who engages in a passionate Q&A about diversity in our UpFront section. Women will have the opportunity to network and offer support to one another at the Women in Breakbulk Breakfast sponsored by Bureau Veritas at Breakbulk Middle East.

While this is the Middle East issue, no Breakbulk issue would be complete without stories offering a global perspective: (“Early Movers Harness Hydrogen Promise,” – could hydrogen be the next offshore wind?), those focused on Europe (“Barriers to Black Sea Gas” and “Ambitious, but Unachievable Targets for European Wind?”), and a look at extreme weather in North America, along with a riveting case study from deugro featuring no less than five Breakbulk exhibitors on its project team.

Bridges are some of the most iconic engineering feats, and I still remember when Fluor and its partners completed the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge 10 years ago. It’s a beautiful bridge, especially at night with its swoops of lights stretching across the bay. It is a symbol of connection, and like that bridge, our aim as Breakbulk Events & Media is to connect you with your peers and with the information you need for success in 2023 and beyond.

Best wishes,

Leslie Meredith Breakbulk’s Marketing & Media Director

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