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19.12.19 4 NEWS KSI Malta recently hosted a re- ception for its local corporate col- laborators at Quarterdeck, Hilton Hotel in St Julian's. e event served as an ideal platform where the attendees had the opportunity to interact with the Key People at KSi Malta, including the manage- ment, Directors and Partners. e managing partner of KSi Malta, Mr Joseph Gauci, thanked those present for their continued support and business relationship with the firm. He furthermore commended the firm's staff for their invaluable work throughout the year. Gauci also mentioned the main developments the firm made in 2019, including the multimillion investment of new office space in Valley Road, Msida; and the launch of its newly redesigned website at www.ksimalta.com, which replaced the older version. KSi Malta holds corporate reception MALTA is among the new countries elected on the Rules Committee of the Bureau International des Ex- positions (BIE). Elections were held during the 166th session of the General Assembly of the BIE held in Paris on 27th No- vember 2019. e Rules Committee is composed of representatives of 12 Member States of the BIE elected by the General Assembly. Its main function is to pro- vide, organizing and participating countries at Expos, with a guide of all the mandatory regulations, exam- ines the rules and regulations of Expos, and establishes the BIE's internal by-laws. is is the first time that Malta has been elected on one of the Committees of the BIE. e participation of Members States within these Committees is of great importance for the good functioning of the Organisa- tion. e BIE is the Intergovernmental Organisation which oversees and regulates all international exhibitions (Expos) of a non-commercial nature that last more than 3 weeks. Four main types of Expos are organised under its auspices namely World Expos which are held every 5 years, Specialised Expos, Horticultural Expos and the Triennale di Milano. Malta has actively participated at each World Expo since Hannover 2000 and is also an official participant at Expo 2020 Dubai being held in the UAE from the 20th October 2020 until 10th April 2021. Malta's par- ticipation at this Expo is being coordinated by Malta Enterprise under the auspices of the Ministry for the Economy, Industry and Small Businesses. Malta elected on BIE Rules Committee PALUMBO Malta Shipyards has ranked first in Europe for retrofitting the most vessels with a fuel cleaning system in 2019 as ship owners rush to meet new environmental shipping rules. e ranking — featured in the De- cember edition of Drydock Magazine, the world's leading publication for ship repair, maintenance and conversion — also placed Viktor Lenac, Palumbo Group's yard in Croatia in eighth posi- tion in Europe. Palumbo president Antonio Palumbo said: "Placing top in Europe is a great honour for our shipyards and for Mal- ta, and shows that hard work to remain competitive in such a tough and volatile market pays off." e article, which featured in the mag- azine's 40th anniversary issue, delved into the emerging trends of 2019 across the repair market, with particular atten- tion to scrubber retrofitting — systems that clean exhaust gases — as ship own- ers scramble to meet the UN's Interna- tional Maritime Organisation regula- tions. IMO Sulphur 2020 stipulates that vessels have to lower the maximum al- lowable sulphur content in bunker fuel to 0.5 per cent from 3.5 per cent as a step towards controlling emissions and achieving cleaner air. e installation of scrubbers requires extensive modifications to the funnel, to 'clean' emissions before release into the atmosphere, and the scrubber market boomed in 2019 as ship owners and op- erators turned to retrofitting to comply with the sulphur limit. "Our team had the foresight and agility to exploit this opportunity, as the IMO regulations opened up a new niche… We are proud to achieve such a stand- ing, which strengthens our vision in building a great network on the global platform," Palumbo said. e magazine, which featured a clas- sification for non-Chinese yards, placed Palumbo Shipyards as fifth in the world, and first in Europe for total scrubber retrofits for 2019. e Cottonera shipyard has been kept busy over the past months, installing ships with new scrubbers that work by showering seawater, which in turns con- verts emissions from gaseous to a more manageable aqueous state. e systems being installed by Palumbo Malta Ship- yards meet and exceed the IMO limits for both gas emissions and wash quality. Palumbo Shipyard's top placing is due to its quick turnaround of the job and its unparalleled experience in such pro- jects in Mediterranean region. "Projects such as these put us and Malta on the map as there aren't many yards doing this sort of work… ese results make us happy to be contribut- ing to the Maltese economy after dark and difficult years," Palumbo said. Palumbo ranks first in Europe for retrofitting ships to meet new pollution standards

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