Event Agenda

The official opening of Breakbulk Asia 2026 in Singapore, Asia’s leading hub for project cargo, heavy-lift and industrial logistics.  

Under the theme of ‘Opening a New Region of Project Opportunities’, the opening sets up two days of discussion on how changing trade routes, investment patterns and delivery conditions are affecting project cargo strategy across Asia. 

Leading global strategy advisor, CEO and bestselling author Parag Khanna will open the Breakbulk Asia main stage with a high-level view of the geopolitical and economic forces impacting trade corridors, infrastructure investment and supply chain decisions.

Gain a pragmatic look at what sustainability means in real project logistics – not theory, but measurable actions taken by forwarders, carriers and shippers across Asia.

Hear from a sustainability specialist who will outline how companies are tracking emissions, applying reporting frameworks, using cleaner fuels, optimizing voyages and embedding sustainability into procurement. Alongside operational initiatives, the session will address the growing regulatory complexity of sustainability reporting – including how companies are navigating and aligning standards such as ISO frameworks, EU CSRD requirements and GLEC methodologies.

Case examples demonstrate what has moved beyond marketing and tick-box exercises into real operational change, while also highlighting the challenges of ensuring consistency, comparability and compliance across different reporting standards.

You’ll become clearer on terminology, methods and data requirements, and how even small adjustments – both operational and reporting-related – can create meaningful carbon savings and stronger transparency across multi-leg project movements.

Asia sits at the centre of a global trading system undergoing rapid realignment, as geopolitical disruption forces companies to rethink established trade routes, sourcing strategies and supply chain relationships. 

Trade corridors are exposed to geopolitical pressure at critical maritime chokepoints, from the Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea to the Malacca and Taiwan Straits. At the same time, tariffs and sanctions are adding to the costs and contractual implications when cargo is delayed or rerouted. 

Following on from the themes raised in the keynote presentation, this discussion will explore how cargo owners, EPCs, carriers and forwarders are responding to these shifts. 

Major investments in energy, manufacturing and digital infrastructure are creating large-scale project opportunities across Southeast Asia, India and Australia.  

This session will examine where the region's most significant project opportunities are emerging, how manufacturing and fabrication activity is evolving, and what these shifts mean for cargo owners, EPCs, carriers and logistics providers. 

The discussion will explore the factors most likely to determine project success, including procurement strategies and local content requirements, as well as infrastructure readiness, supply chain coordination and execution risk.

Join us for the live final of the first-ever Breakbulk Asia innovation pitches - a fast-paced showcase of breakthrough tools, technologies and operational solutions shaping the future of breakbulk and project logistics.

Finalists demonstrate real-world applications that reduce bottlenecks, enhance visibility, streamline documentation or drive emissions reductions across complex supply chains. Judges evaluate the commercial viability, scalability and practical value of each innovation, while the audience gains firsthand exposure to tools already reshaping charters, port calls, fabrication flows and multimodal project execution.   

The session spotlights pragmatic, deployable solutions rather than conceptual technologies, offering attendees insight into what will meaningfully shift project delivery over the next 24 months.

AI can only support project logistics when the underlying information is reliable, shared and usable. This session asks what cargo owners, EPCs, carriers and forwarders need to put in place before AI can add value in live project execution, including trusted data, clear ownership, cybersecurity and human accountability. 

The discussion will the test these requirements against realistic project logistics disruptions, examining how AI-supported planning could help teams respond when a vessel is delayed, a port becomes unavailable, documentation breaks down or systems are compromised. 

Through a moderated scenario planning exercise, panellists and delegates will be asked to consider what information is needed to make better decisions, where AI can improve visibility and planning, and where expert judgement, safety oversight and accountability remain essential. 

As lenders, insurers and investors exert greater influence over which projects move forward and under what conditions, understanding what makes a project bankable is as important as knowing how to execute it. 

At the Project Finance Forum, senior industry leaders will examine how capital is being directed towards Asia's major projects, what investors and lenders are looking for, and the implications for project owners, EPCs and supply chain partners. 

A focused networking opportunity for shippers, cargo owners, financiers and funding organisations to discuss how capital availability, procurement models and project risk allocation are shaping Asia’s expanding pipeline of capital-intensive energy, infrastructure and industrial projects.  

The session will also feature the announcement of the winner of the Breakbulk Asia Innovation Pitch, spotlighting a tool or solution with clear commercial potential to improve visibility, sustainability, cost control or risk management across project logistics.

Welcome Back to day two of Breakbulk Asia 2026! 

Join us in Breakbulk Live for the opening of day two of the show, where we’ll be diving into even more of the hottest topics in Asia’s breakbulk and project cargo landscape, as new opportunities continue to open up across the region. 

This Future Thinkers keynote will examine the forces changing Asia’s project cargo market, from geopolitical volatility and energy security to the investment priorities behind major capital projects. 
 
Focusing on Asia’s evolving role in global energy, manufacturing and infrastructure delivery, the presentation will consider how businesses can reduce exposure by diversifying suppliers, improving visibility and working with partners they trust under pressure. It will offer a strategic view on how leaders can invest in infrastructure, talent and faster decision-making in a period of geopolitical volatility, cost pressure and shifting trade routes. 
 

If fleet capacity doubled tomorrow, would the industry’s delivery challenges disappear? 

Asia's project pipeline is creating demand for specialist multipurpose and heavy-lift shipping. But even when vessel capacity exists, project delivery can be constrained by port capability, inland infrastructure, equipment availability, permitting requirements and route disruption. 

This session will examine what true fleet readiness means in today's market by exploring the factors beyond vessel supply that increasingly determine project success. The discussion will consider how carriers, ports, EPCs and logistics providers are responding to changing cargo flows, growing operational complexity and new pressures on project delivery. 

Offshore wind is creating some of Asia's most significant project logistics opportunities. However, the industry is facing growing pressure to deliver increasingly complex projects safely, efficiently and at scale. What will determine whether offshore wind demand can be met in time? 

Moderated by Breakbulk Magazine, this session will examine the infrastructure, capabilities and coordination needed to move large components from fabrication yard to installation site, while exploring the role of ports, carriers, developers and logistics providers in supporting project delivery. 

Drawing on lessons from more mature offshore wind markets, the discussion will explore where bottlenecks remain, how investment in supporting infrastructure is evolving, and how today's decisions could shape future maintenance, repowering and lifecycle requirements.  

Green and sustainability-linked financing is rapidly reshaping how energy and infrastructure projects are funded in Asia.  

This session demystifies green bonds, ESG-linked lending and Development Finance Institution (DFI)- supported capital structures, explaining how they influence procurement, vessel selection, sustainability reporting and contractor qualification.  

Drawing on examples from organizations such as ADB, AIIB, JICA and Singapore’s green bond ecosystem, this session offers operators and EPCs a practical understanding of what financiers require and how logistics providers can position themselves to compete for projects backed by climate-aligned capital.

Day Two focuses on the delivery pressures shaping Asia's project cargo market: fleet availability, infrastructure readiness, contractual risk, technology adoption and workforce capability. 

With sessions on heavy-lift capacity, offshore wind logistics, data centre build-out, and workforce & skills shortages, the programme asks whether the industry has the capability, resilience and specialist expertise to deliver the region’s next generation of complex cargo movements. 

Asia's rapid investment in AI infrastructure is creating new sources of demand for project cargo across markets including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, India and Australia. 

As developers race to bring new data centre capacity online, manufacturers, EPCs and logistics providers are adapting to new sourcing patterns, equipment flows and infrastructure requirements. 

This session will examine where investment is concentrating, how digital infrastructure is changing cargo flows across the region, and what opportunities this creates for project cargo stakeholders. 

Diverse problems in Breakbulk need diverse minds at the table to solve them!

Inspired by Singapore’s iconic mixed dish, this interactive workshop brings together you, the diverse minds of the Breakbulk Asia community, to solve real operational problems submitted by shippers, EPCs, ports and logistics providers.  

You’ll work in facilitated breakout groups to come up with solutions to a problem statement related to a real-life project challenge, tackling issues such as regulatory delays, capacity constraints, AI adoption, multimodal coordination and fabrication-to-port bottlenecks.  

Join this session to connect with familiar and new faces from Asia’s breakbulk and project cargo ecosystem, share learnings and gain fresh, cross-functional perspectives that will truly drive the future of the industry right now.  

Geopolitical disruption, sudden route changes, war risk exposure and port delays are putting project cargo contracts under intense pressure. When a vessel is rerouted, insurance terms change or a project misses its delivery window, who carries the cost and accountability? 

This session brings together project owners, carriers, insurers and legal specialists to examine the wide-ranging impacts of disruption on project delivery. The panel will explore where responsibility can become unclear, how ambiguous agreements can leave EPCs exposed to additional cost, and how better-defined terms between stakeholders can reduce disputes when plans change.

Asia’s project pipeline continues to grow, but where will the next generation of project logistics expertise come from? Many parts of the industry are facing skills shortages, an ageing workforce, and growing competition for experienced talent. 

During this session, a young professional will interview senior industry leaders on how the sector can attract, develop and retain the expertise needed to support Asia's next generation of energy, infrastructure and industrial projects.  

The conversation will explore the changing skills required across project logistics, how knowledge can be transferred between generations, and where digital tools and AI can support people without replacing the judgement and experience that remain critical to project delivery.