Posidonia, the world’s leading shipping fair, is back next week, after four long years due to the pandemic, with organizers saying on Thursday it will be bigger than ever and highlight the momentum Greek and international shipping has despite the adversities.

Posidonia Exhibitions Managing Director Theodore Vokos highlighted the presence of 1,929 companies from 88 countries, the 68 conferences and seminars, and the 24 national pavilions.

Shipping Minister Giannis Plakiotakis greeted the return of Posidonia, arguing that its organization is of particular significance this year, but said the event is overshadowed by the hostage situation of the two Greek tankers off the Iranian coast.

“Holding the two vessels hostage violates any sense of law, upsets the regulatory system on maritime legislation and threatens the security of shipping and global trade,” the minister said, calling on the global shipping community to exert pressure for this nightmare to end.

The president of Greek shipowners, Melina Travlou, thanked the minister for his message on the tankers, saying this situation is “unheard of and unprecedented.” She also asked for a universal effort to “get this over and done with.”

The event will launch on Monday evening, at the Metropolitan Expo center near Athens International Airport. Kathimerini will also be present with its own stand at the fair, to be found at point 1.340.

Ahead of the main event come the Posidonia Games, with some 3,000 participants, starting on Friday with the Posidonia Cup, a 23-sea mile sailing race in its 10th edition with 45 crews and 500 participants. On Saturday there is a new addition to the program, the 3×3 basketball tournament, followed on Sunday by the Posidonia running event, the golf tournament and the shipsoccer tournament.

The key feature of this year’s event, though, is that the fair has not only survived the pandemic, but is also bouncing back bigger and better, proving that nothing is “imposidoniable.”

This article was previously published in ekathimerini.com.