The Maritime Economist Magazine Spring 2015 | Page 4

THEMARITIME Economist President’s Message Jan Hoffmann, President [email protected] In spite of smartphones, internet and 3-D printers, most goods we use and consume will always be physically moved one way or another - and ocean-going ships transport about 80% of the volume of global merchandize trade. Ports connect countries and their peoples by being the nodes where ships call to load and unload their cargo. Oil, coal, iron-ore and other raw materials as well as intermediate and consumer goods are one country’s exports and another country’s imports. The ships that transport these goods have grown in size over the last decades, and seaports have become increasingly mechanized, making use of the most specialized handling equipment. In total, seaborne trade amounts to 10 billion tons per year. ME Mag IAME is an international forum for the exchange of research and information among those interested in maritime and maritime-related issues. Membership is drawn from all continents and representation includes academics, industry and government. Members have the opportunity to interact with international colleagues by attending the annual IAME conferences, the next ones to take place in Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) in August 2015, and in Germany (Hamburg) in 2016. 4 The Maritime Economist Magazine (ME Mag) is a project of the International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), and as IAME’s current president, it is a tremendous honour and pleasure to welcome our readers to the first issue of publication. We are confident that ME Mag fills an important niche by helping IAME’s members to share the findings of our research with those who actually matter when it comes to making use of these findings, i.e. the business community and policy makers. The editorial team, led by Okan Duru, has made tremendous efforts to put together an outstanding first issue, benefitting from the dedication of our section editors and associates, reviewers, and our PR, Media, Art & Design Directors - all of them committing their time and resources to this project. Special thanks of course also go the authors, without whom we could not have assembled such an interesting first issue. I also wish to thank our sponsors, who have put their trust - and money - into this IAME project. With ME Mag now formally launched, IAME has reached another milestone in our 25 year history. We hope you enjoy the reading.