You are invited to join us on 29 April 2014 for the BIMCO Awards Gala Dinner at the Dumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai. It promises to be a night of great networking and celebration. The new BIMCO Awards have been created to celebrate and draw attention to shipping companies and individuals who have excelled in areas reflecting BIMCO's global activities. The nominations will come from the BIMCO members but the winners can be any company or individual that has excelled within the category. The 5 BIMCO Award categories are: The BIMCO President's Award • The BIMCO Regional Shipping Personality of the Year • The BIMCO Shipping Company of the Year • The BIMCO Education & Training Award • The BIMCO Cairns-Hansen Award Named after two of BIMCO's founding fathers whose aspirations towards creating international standard forms of charter party created the basic principle that underpins BIMCO's documentary activities today, this award will be given to an individual or company that has made a significant contribution to raising standards in shipping contracts and encouraging the use of standard forms. BIMCO members can nominate candidates for the last 4 awards categories starting today, and the closing date for entry of nominations from BIMCO members is Friday 7 March 2014. It is not possible to nominate for The BIMCO President's Award. Simply go to http://dubai.bimco.org. A distinguished judging panel has been established headed by BIMCO's President John Denholm. He will be joined by Jamal Majid Bin Thaniah (TBC), Vice Chairman of DP World, and Captain Jitendra Misra, Managing Director of Emarat Maritime, and Director of BIMCO, Philippe Louis-Dreyfus, President of Louis Dreyfus Armateurs and President Designate of BIMCO (TBC) and Angus Frew, Secretary General & CEO of BIMCO. We need your nominations! So please go ahead and nominate your favourites within each category, and then come and join us at the BIMCO Gala Awards Dinner in Dubai on 29 April 2014 for a night of celebration. Make a whole day of it and join us at BIMCO's Annual Conference. The theme of this year's conference is Perspectives in Shipping 2014 - Protecting and Developing Your Business. The Conference starts at 9:30 and runs through to 16:00 on 29 April at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel. More information, including buying seats/tables for the Gala Dinner, nomination forms for the BIMCO Awards, and sponsorship opportunities, is available on the dedicated BIMCO website. Source: BIMCO Event Website