Major shipowners CMB.Tech and MSC Belgium are getting together for a charity event they are calling the maritime dance festival of the year.
The A La Marine Nation event on 24 October in Antwerp will feature five acts and raise money for the young people’s charity Talent Atelier for Youngsters (TAJO).
CMB.Tech chief executive Alexander Saverys jokingly told TradeWinds: “We are going to do something very risky. A lot riskier than shipping. We will organise the maritime dance festival of the year.”
“The concept is easy: it will take place in the centre of Antwerp, we have five top DJs lined up (not the likes of David Guetta yet, that’s for edition two or three), we aim to have 2,000 people, it starts at 5pm and ends at 2am and all the proceeds go to charity,” he said.
The line-up features Omdat Het Kan and Average Rob, Dimitri Wouters, the Dirty Daddies, DJ Wout and DJ Hans.
The idea is to bring together “party people” from inside and outside shipping, the festival’s website says.
“So far, we have had a very positive response from local and international shipping companies and ticketing is going very well,” Saverys said.
The two groups plan to hold the event every other year: A La Marine Nation by CMB.Tech in even-numbered years and a festival called Overstag run by MSC in odd-numbered years.
Saverys explained A La Marine is the traditional battle cry of Belgian shipping companies, “something you might have heard if you ever attended one of our parties”.
“Last year, we decided to create the A La Marine Nation to bring maritime companies together that are active in Antwerp,” Saverys said.
A “nation” is the 15th-century corporate structure that used to handle cargo from ships.
These “nations” still exist — a famous example being Katoen Natie.
The most recent one is A La Marine Nation.
Once a month, several shipping companies come together for after-work drinks and snacks in the A La Marine bar and restaurant, conveniently next to the CMB.Tech office, Saverys added.
Tickets are available here:
