About ITS

The world's largest gathering of Tug, Towage & Salvage Experts

The ITS Convention & Exhibition started life as the International Tug Conference in 1969 and has been held every two years ever since, apart from a break of three years between 1979 and 1982 so that delegates could participate in the 200th Anniversary celebrations of what was then Allan Brunton-Reed’s family business, Thomas Reed Ltd (est 1782). At the 10th Conference in Sydney 1988, salvage was introduced into the programme for the first time, and the conference was renamed the International Tug and Salvage Convention and Exhibition. It was felt this title was a little long-winded, and in 1994 the name was abbreviated to ITS.

The event, held every two years in a different location in the world, is the world's largest gathering of tug, towage, salvage and OSV experts. Over the past 44 years, the ITS Convention has earned an enviable reputation for being the best of its kind, thanks to meticulous attention to detail. It attracts the most senior players in the business from all over the world, affording them a unique opportunity once every two years to meet, learn and do business. To this end, we go to great lengths to make sure that delegates and exhibitors have every available opportunity to network. The coffee/tea breaks take place within the exhibition and exhibitors can take lunch with the delegates.

The ITS Convention has grown in size year on year both in the number of delegates attending and the number of exhibitors participating. Now that the offshore support vessel market has been included in the programme, there seems little doubt that it will continue to do so.

Since 1969, over 6,400 delegates and 900 exhibitors have taken part in the conventions, with a repeat attendance rate of over 75%.