And this year's show, says organiser Mercator Media, will have more of everything.

There are RIB manufacturers a-plenty, such as Avon, Ribcraft, Ribtec and Tiger Marine.

"All the engine companies will be here, " said exhibition manager, Jane Wilson, reeling off a list of the top names - Iveco, Cummins, MTU, MAN, Scania, Yamaha, Yanmar.

Electronics sees another blurred division between the leisure and commercial industries and Seawork offers Furuno, Raymarine, Simrad, Mantsbrite. Ocean Safety, Helly Hansen and Viking are some of the safety companies, while first time exhibitors include ITT Jabsco, Aquafax and Gecko.

A quick scan through the latest exhibitor list shows more than 50 companies involved as much in the leisure side of the industry as the commercial.

Among the bigger craft will be a 'packaged specification' Nelson 35 from Halmatic; a 42m customs cutter from Damen, a Pantocarenedesigned 14.05m offshore lifeboat for the French SNS fleet, built by the Bernard Shipyard; a newly launched police patrol vessel from Dockstarvet of Sweden. And lots more, as the PR men say.

The free-to-attend forum sessions run Tuesday, morning and afternoon on the Wednesday and Thursday morning.

The programme includes pollution control and prevention, environmental constraints affecting port operations and the conflict between the marine aggregates and fishing industries.

And on the first night, Tuesday, the Seawork dinner is already heavily booked.

The venue is Southampton Football Club's St Mary's Road ground.

The show is a few minutes from the M275 with lots of car parking space close to the exhibition halls and marina. A courtesy bus runs from Southampton Central station every half hour.

For more information contact Mercator Media on 01329 825335, or www.seaworkexhibition.com