Image: Pacific Marine Expo 2025 in the traditional Lumen Field location. Photo Credit: Norris Comer.
Days after the close of the Pacific Marine Expo last November, the maritime trade show announced that it will be switching locations this year to the Seattle Convention Center’s Arch Building, with three days of exhibitions and informational sessions set for November 2026.
The move was made, in part, to reduce potential scheduling issues that can come with reserving fall events at the previous venue, the Lumen Field Events Center, located adjacent to Lumen Field, where the Seahawks play their home football games.
“We typically don’t get dates reserved until later in the year due to potential conflicts with the NFL schedule,” said Jessica Eames, the conference manager for the Expo. “By moving to the Convention Center, we’re able to secure the dates a full year in advance.” This year’s Expo, she added, is set for Nov. 19-21, 2026, at the Arch Building on Pike Street.
While the new space is expected to be larger than the previous location and closer to downtown hotels and waterfront attractions, not every exhibitor has been pleased with the announcement. Bill Forslund, business development manager for Seattle’s MER Equipment, has been attending the Pacific Marine Expo for 20 years, but he said he expects more difficulties moving the heavy generators and other large power systems MER sells into a more congested urban environment.
“We’re not really happy with the change,” Forslund said. “The logistics we needed were all right there at the old space, making it easy to move large pieces of machinery. Now, I suppose, we’ll have to get used to new staging areas downtown to move equipment in and out.” Forslund said MER expects to appear again at the next Expo this fall but remains ambivalent about the move.
An Expo spokesperson said, however, that the Arch Building “has been recently renovated and exhibitor access streamlined for easier move-in/ move out.” The venue will have 205,700 square feet of “dedicated heavy-load exhibit space,” along with 45,000 square feet of carpeted ballroom space, 19 covered bays at two loading docks, and 70 flexible meeting rooms.
Presented by National Fisherman News, the Pacific Marine Expo is the largest commercial marine conference one the West Coast. The latest attendance numbers for the 2025 Expo were not yet released at press time, Eames said, but the show organizers said it regularly attracts more than 5,000 visitors and 350 vendors exhibiting the latest boating equipment and services.
This year, Pacific Marine Expo will continue its partnership with Maritime Blue, a nonprofit strategic alliance focusing on the growth of the maritime industry in the Northwest. Maritime Blue will present another lineup of conference programing to showcase the latest developments in marine technology, innovation, safety, and sustainability. At the 2025 Expo, more than 60 speakers appeared, providing advice about topics such as hybrid-electric technology, skills testing, naval architecture advancements, workforce management, mariculture, digital marketing, and many others.
For more updates on new session topics, speakers, a vendor list, and events planned for the November 2026 Expo, please visit pacificmarineexpo.com throughout the year.
