About ITS



1969 London
1971 London
1973 Vancouver
1975 New Orleans
1977 Rotterdam
1979 Hamburg
1982 London
1984 Singapore
1986 London
1988 Sydney
1990 Halifax NS
1992 Genoa
1994 Southampton
1996 Seattle
1998 Cape Town
2000 Jersey
2002 Bilbao
2004 Miami
2006 Rotterdam
2008 Singapore
2010 Vancouver
2012 Barcelona
2014 Hamburg
2016 Boston
2018 Marseille


The world's largest gathering of Tug, Salvage & OSV Experts
The ITS Convention and 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 50 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 8,000 delegates and 1,200 exhibitors from 50-plus countries have taken part in the conventions, with a repeat attendance rate of over 75%.
"I realised that my entire career and the international
success of our business have been inextricably linked with these conferences. Through them we have met
the majority of our international clients, have been given the platform from which to draw attention to
the important unique design developments initiated by this office, and been able to share ideas about the
future of tug design and operations with a worldwide audience"
Robert Allan, Robert Allan Ltd