About ITS

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