Dear Members, Sponsors, Supporters and Friends,

I would like to give an enormous THANK YOU to all who made our WISTA 2010 Conference in Athens such a success. Here at WISTA Hellas we are deeply grateful to all our Sponsors, Speakers, Delegates, Visitors and Organisers. A truly magnificent combined effort. Nor is this just self-congratulation. The feedback forms and informal comments we have received all indicate a high level of satisfaction with the arrangements put together by our volunteers and our professional organisers.

I sincerely believe that WISTA internationally has taken a great step forward, building on the respect from the maritime industries that it has merited over its long history.

What an amazing four days it was! One of you said to me at the beginning, "From the moment I boarded the coach bound for the Pre-conference Dinner at Piraeus Yacht Club, I could sense the fantastic atmosphere." I absolutely agree: there was a wonderful "buzz" about this Conference, beginning at breakfast each day and continuing through the morning and afternoon agendas, the lunch breaks and evening events.

WISTA is an unrivalled "maritime cluster" and the presence of friends and colleagues from almost 30 countries and every sector of the shipping world has taken the organisation to new levels of achievement. Some attendees asked for even more networking opportunities, and they are right to do so: you can never have enough networking, meeting your opposite numbers from other nations, and getting introduced by design or chance to people you might never have guessed would inspire you to brainstorm for ideas that will take your business forward and increase your knowledge of new sectors. I am sure that WISTA’s governing ExCo will continue to welcome and pay great heed to all proposals to maximise the potential of WISTA.

WISTA Hellas realises how honoured it has been that visitors took the decision to spend so much of their valuable time with us, and to speak freely of their hopes and goals for WISTA and for their particular field of activity. This is networking of a quality that no social networking site of the Facebook or Twitter model can match.

We have enjoyed hearing speakers at the top of their tree, and of immense technical, legal and regulatory knowledge. A series of press releases has been compiled chronicling some of the Conference highlights and these, as well as the speaker presentations are available on this website. Do keep checking this site as well as www.wista.net for news of all kinds about WISTA.

It has been thrilling to find that the number of national WISTA associations has reached 30, including the latest additions of Ghana, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, and we know of further important nations in the wings, working on the formalities to join us. At WISTA Hellas, we are proud to have been this year's hosts: hard but rewarding work, just like our day-to-day activity in the maritime industry.

The support of the IMO, and of many other organisations and businesses, has been a huge tribute to the progress of WISTA over the years -- the 36 years of existence of WISTA, and the 30 years of Conferences. Conference week has been the platform for a further push forward, and our friends from WISTA Sweden are now moving into the limelight to set the scene for WISTA 2011 in Stockholm. We have handed the Conference baton to Maria Nygren and her team, and look forward to seeing everyone in September next year in the Swedish capital. We are further delighted that the hosts for 2012 will be one of our newest associations, WISTA Egypt, presided over by Dr Layla El Saeed of the Arab Academy for Science & Technology & Maritime Transport, Alexandria. We are sure that the maritime industry will rally behind our counterparts in Sweden and Egypt as splendidly as it has done for WISTA Hellas.

Thank you all, and we will remember for a long, long time our much valued and very happy meetings in Greece!