One of the region's biggest maritime trade events is set to expand this year.

Mercator Media Ltd which organises Seawork, Europe’s largest commercial marine exhibition in Southampton each summer, has agreed to agreed to purchase another event to run alongside side it.

The Fareham-based events and magazine firm has acquired The Marine & Coastal Civil Engineering Expo (M&CCE Expo), from the Prysm Group.

M&CCE Expo, Europe’s leading event showcases the latest equipment and techniques in marine civil engineering and construction, will run alongside Seawork at Mayflower Park from June 11-13.

Mercator say the engineering expo – which covers all aspects of dredging, harbour and port construction and flood defence work –will have its own dedicated exhibition arena keep its own brand and identity.

This will be the first time the M&CCE Expo, which attracts around 2,000 visitors, some from as far afield as America, Brazil, India, Russia and South Korea, will have been held in a coastal location. The last two shows were at the NEC in Birmingham and the ExCel in London.

Andrew Webster, chief executive of Mercato, said: "This is great news for visitors and exhibitors to both Seawork and M&CCE. There is a big overlap in content and business for people involved in marine construction, from harbourmasters to consulting engineers to operations managers and anyone in vessel and marine equipment deployment.’

Managing Director at Prysm FDE Ltd, James Berryman, said, "This is fantastic news for M&CCE Expo and a vital stepping stone in the growth of the exhibition, we wanted to be certain that the event continued to evolve in the right way.

"The expertise and investment that Mercator can offer the exhibition can only be an excellent thing for the future of the event.”

Also running alongside this year's Seawork will be the relaunched Coastlink conference, to be held at the Leonard Royal Hotel Southampton Grand Harbour.

The event will be attended by representatives from deep-sea and short sea shipping companies and agents, intermodal operators, shipbrokers, ports and stevedores as well as forwarding and logistics companies.

Coastlink was established in 2004 by David Cheslin and Gavin Roser, both experienced shipping professionals. The first conference was held in London, since then Coastlink has docked in Zeebrugge, Dublin, Bilbao, Liverpool, Hamburg, Port Rouen, Paris, Antwerp, London, Poole, Dunkirk, Cardiff, Tallinn, Birmingham, Gothenburg, Gdansk, Nantes, Perth, Hull, Bristol, Newcastle and Felixstowe.

This year's conference will discuss the changing European logistics landscape and how Chinese developments and investments are influencing European short sea shipping