The combined North American Shipping Week event in Connecticut that was slated for October is moving online as the Covid-19 pandemic rages.
The event — a joint production of the Connecticut Maritime Association (CMA) and SHIPPINGInsight — had been scheduled to begin on 12 October in Greenwich before moving to Stamford on 14 October.
"In light of health and safety recommendations and keeping our community both here and abroad in mind, CMA Shipping 2020 will be delivered as a 100% virtual event," CMA president Chris Aversano said in a statement.
"As always, we plan to deliver a robust schedule filled with great speakers, panels, a virtual exhibition space, and plenty of opportunities for attendees to interact one-on-one. We're extremely excited about this innovative solution that balances delivering great content with safety."
CMA's annual largest-in-the-continent event was initially slated for its usual late March dates but, just weeks before it was set to begin, it was pushed back until 29 June.
In April, North American Shipping Week was announced, with CMA joining with SHIPPINGInsight — a fleet optimisation and innovation group — for North American Shipping Week.
Like the initial plans for autumn in-person conferences, SHIPPINGInsight will host its conference beginning on 12 October.
CMA will start on 14 October, with International Seaways chief executive Lois Zabrocky being named commodore on 16 October.
Go online or cancel
The Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns and travel restrictions have left organisers with the choice to either cancel their events or move them online.
Marine Money Week, the annual mid-June event in New York, was cancelled in April. Capital Link has moved its usual New York events online, as has the Association of Ship Brokers and Agents with its event that had been booked for Miami in September.
The Offshore Technology Conference — a massive oil and gas event held annually in Houston — decided to cancel.
Posidonia has elected to cancel its event, TradeWinds reported last week, in part due to European Union travel restrictions preventing potential delegates from the US, China and Singapore from attending. Organisers had hoped to hold the event in October instead of June.
According to figures from Johns Hopkins University, Covid-19 has infected more than 16.7m worldwide, killing over 661,000.
The US has had a hard time keeping the respiratory illness under control and travel from Canada is still heavily restricted.
Meanwhile, Belgium, Germany and Spain have reported rises in infections.
SHIPPINGInsight chief executive Carleen Lyden Walker said her organisation had commissioned a survey that found nearly three-quarters of respondents were concerned about attending a physical event.
"We are unwilling to put anyone in our maritime community at risk, resulting in the decision to reimagine SHIPPINGInsight into a virtual event," she said.
"In the absence of Posidonia and other maritime events, it becomes even more critical that maritime stakeholders have the opportunity to gather, albeit virtually, to discuss strategies for addressing critical industry concerns.
"North American Shipping Week provides both technical and commercial for this to occur and be accessible globally."