More than 600 top maritime industry executives and decision-makers will attend the Maritime Standard Awards (TMS Awards) 2016, a leading maritime industry event, to be held in October, in Dubai, UAE.

The event, being held for the third consecutive year, will recognise and reward the achievements of the best performers of the Middle East and the Indian Subcontinent's shipping, ports and related maritime sectors at a high profile gala dinner, said a statement.

A total of 29 awards will be presented on the night, with 21 chosen by an elite panel of judges. The others will be special awards chosen by the Maritime Standard team to mark exceptional individual achievements, it added.

This year there will be two new awards – for best company in the fields of Marine Crewing and Manning and Maritime Security, it said.

The event aims to raise the bar even higher, and further demonstrate that it is a class apart compared with rival events.

Trevor Pereira, managing director at Maritime Standard, said: “Over the past two years we have celebrated some of the most influential companies and individuals in the shipping and maritime sectors within the region at an event that is now recognised to be the leading one of its kind in terms of value and prestige.”

“We are already working a series of improvements and new concepts for this year's awards which will make them ever better, and more glamorous, than ever before. It will be an occasion that nobody in the industry will want to miss,” he said.

The organisations supporting the awards include the Abu Dhabi Ports, Abu Dhabi Ship Building, DP World, DNV GL, Drydocks World, Dubai Trading Agency, Abu Dhabi Marine Services, Islamic P & I Club, Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC), Oman Shipping Company S.A.O.C, Sohar Port and Freezone, Mercmarine Group of Companies, Seaborne International, Sical and The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri).

The Awards also have the support of regional trade associations such as the UAE Shipping Association (UAESA), Dubai Shipping Agents Association (DSAA), Organisation of the Islamic Shipowners Association (OISA), Dubai Council for Marine and Maritime Industries (DCMMI), Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST), Indian National Shipowners' Association (INSA), Pakistan Ship's Agents Association (PSAA) and The Women's International Shipping & Trading Association (WISTA), it added. – TradeArabia News Service