TradeWinds

Ship Recycling Forum

London / 3-4 March 2020

 
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Speakers

Put your questions to a hand-picked panel of shipping’s most experienced and knowledgeable individuals, learn and challenge their business strategies and discover what makes them tick.  Among the speakers, you will hear from:

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Mohammad Zulfikar Ali
Joint District and Sessions Judge
Government of Bangladesh
Mohammad Zulfikar Ali is a Joint District and Sessions Judge, Government of Bangladesh. His role is to adjudicate civil and criminal matters. He graduated in Master of Human Rights Law and Policy from the University of New South Wales Law School, Sydney in 2013. Mr Ali’s Master’s thesis examined the Effectiveness of International and Domestic laws in Protecting Workers Occupational Health and Safety Rights in the Shipbreaking Industry of Bangladesh and the role of Bangladesh Supreme Court. Following the research work, he started studying PhD-in Law at Curtin Law School, Curtin University, Perth, WA from 2018. PhD research is on Regulating Human and Environmental Rights Abuse within the Shipbreaking Industry of South Asia. His PhD thesis is to stimulate the debate on the role of shipowners and other associated private parties in response to regular violation of human rights in the shipbreaking yards of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Mr Ali has published papers on Gross Violation of Human Rights by Multinational Corporations: Role of Soft Laws and National Laws in Ensuring Human Rights Obligations of the Multinational Companies; Abuse of Child Labour in Shipbreaking Industries of Bangladesh: International Laws and National Legal Response; Effectiveness of the Hong Kong Convention on Ship Recycling in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Along with this research work, he currently works as an Academic staff (on casual basis) at Curtin Law School.
 
Dimitri Ayvatoglu
Head, Business Development and External Affairs
LEYAL Ship Recycling Group
Mr. Ayvatoglu is leading the Special Projects department of the LEYAL Ship Recycling Group since 2004. He has also served as the ship recycling industrial advisor to the national delegation of Turkey to the IMO during the development of the Hong Kong Convention. Mr. Ayvatoglu has coordinated and supervised over 400 ship recycling trades, having concluded the highest profile ship recycling projects in Turkey, including clients such as Oil Majors, European Navies and the largest and most reputable shipping companies. In his capacity as an official advisor, Mr. Ayvatoglu has contributed to the drafting of the Hong Kong Convention and has attended numerous regional and international workshops in Europe and the Far East under the auspices of the IMO and the United Nations Environment Program. Furthermore, he has participated at the Diplomatic Conference for the adoption of the IMO Hong Kong Convention on the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships in 2009.
 
John Kornerup Bang
Chief Advisor, Climate Change
Maersk
John Kornerup Bang is Head of Sustainability Strategy and shared value initiatives at Maersk and brings 20 years of experience working on sustainable globalization. Currently in Maersk, he drives the development of the overall direction and priorities on sustainability as well as work on solving larger systemic issues related to global logistics through combining commercial muscle with multi-stakeholder partnerships. Over the past three years John served as advisor from Maersk to Ban Ki Moon’s High Level Advisory Group on sustainable transportation including work on the links between the SDGs and transportation.
 
Simon Bennett
General Manager, Sustainable Development
The China Navigation Company
34 years ago, Simon Bennett joined Swire Pacific Offshore (SPO) which provides marine support services to the global offshore oil and gas exploration and production industry. Following several voyages as Master, he came ashore in 1991, working as HSE and Country Manager in Brunei, HSE Manager with Swire Production Testers working with their rig-based Early Production Systems for Maersk in Qatar and Shell in Iran and Thailand, and Marketing Manager in Dubai, before he moved to his last but one job as General Director operating three of SPO’s new icebreaking Platform Supply Vessels in the Russian Far East. Since returning to the warmth of Singapore again eleven years ago, he now wears the hat of the GM for Sustainable Development for both SPO, and since late 2010 also for The China Navigation Company, the Swire group’s privately owned deep-sea container and bulk shipping company. Both SPO and CNCo have their Operational Headquarters in Singapore, and have responsibly recycled 12 ships in the past 5 years in China and India. Simon is on the Board of Trustees of the Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI), for which The China Navigation Company was both the founder member in Asia, and a member of the founding steering group of the Ship Recycling Transparency Initiative (SRTI).
 
Jeanett Bergan
Head of Responsible Investments
KLP Kapitalforvaltning
Jeanett Bergan is head for responsible investments in KLP. She has more than 20 years of experience working with corporate social responsibility, sustainability and investments. KLP is Norway’s largest pension fund managing the pension for the local government and state health enterprises. For a number of years, she has helped KLP develop its work as one of the leaders in responsible investment practices on a Norwegian and international scale. KLP has approximately 80 billion USD in assets under management and are invested in more than 7000 companies in 50 countries. Previous employers include KPMG, PwC and Storebrand. Jeanett holds an Executive Master of Management from BI – Norwegian School of Management.
 
Rakesh Bhargava
Director
Sea Sentinels
Rakesh Bhargava was formerly General Manager with Wilhelmsen Ship Management where he headed, initiated and operationalized the IHM, Green Recycling and Lay-Up services, having spent over 30 years with the company. He now heads his own start-up “Sea Sentinels” which offers similar services apart from venturing into offering smart solutions to companies looking to ease operational burdens on ship and shore staff. A specialist in traditional end-to-end management of ships, a leading authority on the inventorying of hazardous materials, an expert on safe, innovative and environmentally correct recycling of ships, Rakesh was also a pioneer in the conceptualization and implementation of both hot and cold lay-up of ships in safe and secure places. Rakesh has a proven understanding of shipping having served his stint at sea as Chief Engineer, prior stepping ashore. He holds a Graduate Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, a certificate in General Management for Shipping, Certificate of Competency as Chief Engineer and several other professional qualifications.
 
Julian Bray
Editor-in-Chief
TradeWinds
Julian Bray is Editor-in-Chief of TradeWinds, the shipping business news publisher which since its launch 25 years ago has become a reference point for decision makers in the industry. During a career in business journalism, he has won awards for both reporting and editing and built a track record of product innovation having lead numerous newspaper, magazine and website launches and relaunches. In addition to his specialist knowledge of maritime commerce, he has also been a Correspondent for the Reuters news agency, written for national newspapers and magazines, and made television and radio appearances. Away from the office, a love of the natural work often takes him to wild and mountainous regions to walk, cycle, climb and watch wildlife with family and friends. He also has a passionate interest in politics, culture and music.
 
Harry Conrad-Pickles
Director
Braemar ACM Shipbroking
Harry joined Braemar in 2004 and has since spent his entire career working in shipping as a prominent part of the Sale and Purchase department on the recycling desk, which he now heads for the organisation, globally. Having worked in the recycling industry for over 15 years, he has a wealth of knowledge and experience in this sector and has built strong relationships and friendships with those people who are active in this industry on a daily basis. As one of the few dedicated recycling brokers globally he has become one of the leading brokers and is well respected not only with Ship Owners and Cash Buyers but also the ship breakers from his various trip to the recycling yards over the years.
 
Narinder Dheir
Director
NKD Maritime
Narinder Dheir worked in the corporate banking sector in the City of London from 1981 to 1991 and has been involved in the ship recycling industry since 1992. Originally as one of the founder partners in Electra Maritime and since 2003 as CEO of NKD Maritime Ltd. He is involved in overseeing the Group’s financial and S&P operations and has been extensively involved in the development of green facilities in Alang India with his partners at Shree Ram Group.
 
Pascal Dick
Senior Pricing Specialist, Scrap & Steel Markets
S&P Global Platts
Pascal Dick is market and pricing analyst at S&P Global Platts, covering the Turkish scrap and rebar markets as well as the wider European scrap complex. Previous experience in Commodities include a research role at Engelhart Commodities with a focus on soft commodities. He holds an MSc in Political Economy of Europe from the London School of Economics and a BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Warwick.
 
Sigurd Enge
Manager, Shipping & Arctic Issues
Bellona Foundation
Sigurd Enge has a maritime background as a navigator and captain in the fishing fleet of the Barents sea and Svalbard. He joined the Bellona Foundation in 1988 and has worked with all types of maritime issues like aquaculture, shipping, petroleum and marine pollution. Today he is in charge of Bellona’s work with the shipping industry and environmental challenges in the Arctic. He is working with business partners, politicians and science network on innovative use of technology for future solutions for a green shipping industry. LNG projects, hybrid & electric propulsion, maritime safety, oil spill response and shipbreaking is headline for the projects he is involved in. With more than 25 years of experience, he is one of Bellona’s most experienced spokespersons.
 
Henning Gramann
Managing Director
GSR Services
Henning is an internationally well recognized expert for green ship recycling and has established Green Ship Recycling Services (GSR Services) for supporting all stakeholders for their cost effective preparation for and fulfilment of Hong Kong Convention. He´s active in ship recycling since more than 10 years and has gained detailed insight into all related aspects. His services cover the whole range of HKC and EU-SRR, from suppliers and manufacturers via shipyards, shipowners to ship recyclers, other IHM Experts, classification societies and administrations. His current activities are mainly focusing on IHM services and improving ship recycling facilities under HKC aspects and related technologies.
 
Wolfram Guntermann
Director Environmental Management
Hapag-Lloyd AG
Captain Wolfram Guntermann graduated with his Masters Licence at the Marine Polytechnic Elfleth/Germany in combination with a scholarship at the Plymouth Polytechnic of Marine Science. He also received his Engineers Licence at the Hamburg Polytechnic in order to serve as Ship Operation Officer holding a dual licence. After having set his feet for the first time on deck a vessel in 1979 he went through the ranks receiving his first command as Master in 1996. He also took various assignments ashore as Trio Tonnage Center London and Director Marine Operations in the Hapag-Lloyd America Office in Piscataway/New Jersey for almost nine years. Upon repatriation to the Hamburg based Headquarters he worked as Director Projects ( Passenger Vessel MV Europa 2 ). With the current function as Director Environmental Management a lot of challenging opportunities are emerging in light of new environmental legislation and initiatives.
 
Jawed Iqbal
CEO
Shoaib Shipping
Mr Jawed Iqbal is the CEO of Shoaib Shipping Agencies and has been connected with the Shipping industry for over 3 decades. He is an active member of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry and represents various sub committees of the Chamber including Shipping and Imports. He is a member of the executive committee of Pakistan Ship Agents Association (PSAA) and was the immediate past Vice Chairman of PSAA with the aim to make a positive contribution to the long-term progress of the Ports and Shipping industry in Pakistan. He is an executive committee member of Pakistan Ship Breakers Association and has represented the Ship Recycling industry of Pakistan at various forums. He has extensive experience in Commercial Shipping as well as providing various Shipping related services. Since 1978, his firm has been active in providing Shipping Agency services to ship owners globally for ships calling at the port of Karachi, Gadani, Gwadar and Port Qasim. In 1996, he set up a Sale & Purchase division and has been extensively involved in the sale of various vessels for recycling at the port of Gadani. He has a keen interest in commercially viable ship recycling activities and plays an important role in working with ship recyclers and classification societies to develop yards in accordance with green recycling requirements, with the goal to achieve enhanced environmental protection for the industry. He has regularly attended ship recycling forums and has provided valuable contribution to panel discussions and presentations to facilitate an agreement on views from various Ship Recycling associations in South Asia.
 
Mohammed Zahirul Islam
Managing Director
PHP Shipbreaking & Recycling
Mohammed Zahirul Islam joined his family business in July 2004 after completing his studies from Australia. As Managing Director of PHP ship breaking and recycling ind ltd, he is responsible for the day to day operations of the recycling facility which employs 300 workers and staff. He took the bold decision to invest heavily to upgrade the facility and it became the first recycling facility in Bangladesh to achieve statement of compliance under Hong Kong Convention.
 
Gudrun Janssens
Head of Environmental & Technical Affairs
Royal Belgian Shipowners' Association
Gudrun Janssens studied Chemistry with a specialization in environmental sciences in Ghent, Belgium. In 2000 she started working at the Public Waste Agency of Flanders. During that time, she also successfully completed post-graduate studies at the Maritime Institute of the University of Ghent. As senior policy advisor and being a Member of the Belgian delegation to the IMO, she outlined the Belgian policy on ships' waste management, waste shipments and ship recycling for over 15 years. Two years ago, she joined the European Community of Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA) as their Director Environment and Maritime Safety. At ECSA she was responsible for the follow-up of all environmental and climate related shipping files, on the European and International level. Only recently Gudrun took up her current position as Head of Environmental and Technical Affairs at the Royal Belgian Shipowners Association in Antwerp. She represents and ensures the interest of the Belgian Shipowners for all environmental files, the main ones being climate change and the reduction of air emissions from shipping, the quality of bunker fuels and its supply chain, the provision of adequate port reception facilities for ship generated waste and the safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships.
 
Ingvild Jenssen
Founder & Director
NGO Shipbreaking Platform
Ingvild Jenssen is Director at the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, a global coalition of environmental, human rights and labour rights non-governmental organisations working for safe and clean ship recycling. She has since 2005 been the Platform’s spokeperson and represented the coaltion in negotiations and advocacy work at the United Nations and European level. Ingvild has also contributed to several publications on the shipbreaking issue and visited the shipbreaking yards in India, Bangladesh, Turkey and Belgium. She holds a MSc in Political Science from the University of Oslo. Prior to joining the Platform, Ingvild was part of ARENA, a leading research program on European policies, where she contributed to the CIDEL project on the issue of minority rights and held courses in political theory for graduate students.
 
Chintan Kalthia
Director
R.L. Kalthia Ship Breaking
Chintan Kalthia is constantly integrating more sustainable ways of working. Spanning 20 years of work experience in ship recycling, the sustainability journey has been marked by an ever-evolving set of challenges and opportunities. As he continues to raise the bar on his approach, R.L.Kalthia Ship Breaking Private Limited sees new opportunities with the strategy to create value that reduces impact on the environment, health and safety is delivering measurable results, in recent years his facility has also been the recycling facility of choice for number major Ship owners for the safe and environmentally sound recycling of their fleets ensuring safe and environmentally sound recycling of obsolete seagoing vessels assisting in emphasizing "green" CSR credentials. Chintan Kalthia has created a work place that protects worker health and safety with due respect for the environment, and promote an atmosphere to grow employee learning and opportunity in a way that is fulfilling, recognized and fairly rewarded.
 
Peter Koller
DG Environment
European Commission
Mr Peter Koller is a policy officer in the European Commission, in charge of the EU Ship Recycling Regulation. He has been working in Directorate-General Environment of the European Commission since 2007.
 
Dr. Martin Kröger
Managing Director
VDR - German Shipowners' Association
Since 2012 Martin Kroeger is Managing Director of the German Shipowners’ Association - VDR and a specialist in international shipping policy and related government affairs management. He has worked in the international maritime community for over a decade and serves as a leading industry representative to many international and intergovernmental organizations. Dr. Kröger also holds the position of Managing Director of the German Shipping Foundation, a facility founded to co-sponsor training and education of seafarers in Germany. He is delegated member to several European and international maritime related advisory committees and expert groups. As alternate member of the Board of Directors of the European Community Shipowners Association - ECSA in Brussels and acting Chairman of the ECSA Safety and Environmental Committee, he actively engages in EU policy making for the maritime sector. He is legal advisor and acting consultant to a number of international and intergovernmental organisations in the field of maritime and security policy.
 
Darren Lepper
Director, Ship Recycling
H Clarkson & Company Limited
Darren had initially joined Clarksons in 1983 and began his shipping life within the Sale and Purchase department assisting the broking desks before establishing himself as a broker in the recycling market. He left the company for 9 years working with another London broking house before returning to Clarkson over five years ago where he has continued to conclude a large volume of tonnage. Having worked in the recycling industry for over 30 years, he has a wealth of knowledge and experience within the recycling sector and has built strong relationships and friendships with those people who are active in this industry on a daily basis and helped to provide assistance to many clients interested in selling their units for ‘Green’ recycling.
 
Vidar Lundberg
Chief Business Development Officer
Grieg Star
Vidar has been working as VP Finance in Grieg for 5 years before starting his new Business Development position in 2017. He has 15 years of consulting, finance and investment experience and joined Grieg in 2012 after spending several years working in the private equity sector. Vidar has a Master of Business and Economics from the Norwegian Business School and holds several board positions within the Grieg Group, in companies like Grieg Green, Grieg International (investment company), and GriegMaas.
 
William MacLachlan
Partner
HFW
William is a Partner in HFW's London office. He advises a wide variety of companies and financial institutions across the commercial shipping, cruise, ferry and yachting industries on a range of transactional shipping matters. William has particular expertise in ship design, ship building, ship repair, ship sale and purchase and ship recycling. He spent some eight months seconded to a leading European shipbuilder. In addition, William is experienced in matters of physical and cyber security and advises a range of ship owners and private security companies on the contractual, regulatory and compliance issues affecting them. William speaks regularly at conferences and contributes to a range of printed media. William is also a trustee of the Mission to Seafarers, one of HFW's global charity partners.
 
Gaurav Mehta
Director
Best Oasis
Mr. Gaurav Sanjay Mehta is a commerce graduate and joined his father's business in 2010. An energetic, ambitious person who has developed a mature and responsible approach to any task that he undertakes, or situation that he is presented with. He manages the cash buying business (Purchase and Sale of Ships for Recycling) for Best Oasis Ltd. Under his leadership, Best Oasis Ltd has successfully purchased and sold 150+ vessels including FPSO's, Tankers, Bulk Carriers, Container Ships, Reefers, fish Factory, Specialized vessels etc for recycling.
 
Dr Nikos Mikelis
Mikelis Consulting
Dr. Nikos Mikelis graduated in naval architecture from the University of Newcastle and obtained Master’s and Doctorate degrees from London University. He has worked in ship classification; for a shipping company; and for the International Maritime Organization from where he recently retired. He currently works under the banner Mikelis Consulting, U.K. He has written around 50 learned papers and numerous articles in the maritime press. He is a freeman of the City of London.
 
Kazuya Nakao
First Secretary
Embassy of Japan, UK
Kazuya Nakao is Alternate Permanent Representative of Japan to the IMO and First Secretary, Embassy of Japan in the UK. Currently, he joins a lot of IMO meetings as a representative of the Japanese Government. After joining the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) in 2007, he has taken part in policy-makings and led a lot of projects in the field of transportation policy. He had worked for International Negotiations Office, Ocean Development and Environment Policy Division. He was responsible for marine environmental policies discussed at the Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) of IMO and UNFCCC.
 
Sveinung Oftedal
Specialist Director
Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment
Specialist Director in the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment with focus on international negotiations on environmental requirements for the maritime sector. He has also been working with these issues in the Norwegian Maritime Directorate and for several years been acting as Norwegian Head of Delegation to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) at the Marine Environment Protection Committee and several IMO Diplomatic Conferences. He has been heavily involved in negotiations on the hot topics at the IMO such as Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Air Pollution and other issues addressed in MARPOL, Ship Recycling, Ballast Water Management, Antifouling Systems and other environmental issues for over two decades. Chairman of the BLG and PPR Sub-Committee (2010 – 2019) and is currently Chairman of the Working Group on Greenhouse Gas emissions.
 
Satinder Pal Singh
Joint Secretary, Shipping
Ministry of Shipping, India
Shri Satinder Pal Singh is a graduate in BE (Civil Engineering), with a Masters degree in Law from Brunel University, London. He joined the civil service in 1995 and has served in the State of Himachal Pradesh in various senior positions. While on deputation outside the State, Shri Singh has had the opportunity to serve in the UN Mission in Kosovo and also with the National Human Rights Commission of India. In his current deputation to the Union Government, Shri Singh served as Director (Housing) in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, before being appointed as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Shipping in August 2017. In his current assignment, Shri Singh is, among others, looking after matters related to shipbreaking and policy matters related to the shipping sector.
 
Faidon Panagiotopoulos
Purchase Representative/Trader
GMS
Faidon is holding a MSc and BSc in the field of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece, from which he graduated summa cum laude. He is also holding a MSc in Shipping, Trade & Finance from the prestigious CASS Business School, City University of London, UK. In 2016 he started his career as a Sales & Purchases Shipbroker in Intermodal Shipbrokers, Athens, Greece. Since January 2017, he has joined the GMS DMCC team in Dubai, UAE, where he is a trader in the Sales & Purchases Division, specializing in offshore assets acquisitions and recycling.
 
Chetan Patel
Owner
Shree Ram Group
Chetan Patel, Director of Shree Ram Group of industries, having 4 HKC compliant yards certified by Class NK. With an experience of 24 years in ship recycling business, he is known as one of the forerunners of this industry. An electronic engineer by qualification, he embarked on this journey at the age of 21 and has recycled around 280 ships till date. He is the pioneer of handling hazardous material and is renowned for handling asbestos from JMC Environment France. His expertise transcends the boundaries of the ship recycling business as he is also a Director in the ASU tonnage plant of Shree Ram Oxy-gas. He has achieved milestones in the ship recycling industry and has been covered in Forbes Asia.
 
Reinoud Pijpers
Director
ISRA
Reinoud Pijpers (1952) has been actively participating in various international gremia during his professional career at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Transport and Environment. Preparing and attending several meetings for the ministers in the EU in Brussels, maintaining intensive contacts with members of the European Parliament, attending meetings in the framework of the OECD and the UN and participation in the preparation of the Hong Kong Convention in the IMO in London. During this period he got acquainted with ISRA. Reinoud became director of ISRA in May 2018.
 
Dr Abdul Rahim
Regional Manager
ClassNK
Abdul Rahim graduated from Cochin University of Science and Technology and started his career with Cochin Shipyard. Later he received his Masters and Doctoral degrees in ship structures from Hiroshima University. Then he joined ClassNK, the Japanese ship classification society in Tokyo. After long stints of 27 years in Japan, Singapore, and London, he is currently the Regional Manager for South Asia of ClassNK based in Mumbai. His received the Singapore Joint RINA and IMarEST Branch Award, and the Stanley Gray Medal of the IMarEST for his works on the development of advanced ship structural rules. He published more than 70 technical research papers mainly on ship structures. He is a Chartered Engineer, a Chartered Marine Engineer, as well as a Fellow of IMarEST and RINA.
 
Md. Mizanur Rahman
National Project Manager (Deputy Secretary)
Ministry of Industries, Bangladesh
Mr. Md. Mizanur Rahman is a career Civil Servant of the Government of Bangladesh in the rank of Deputy Secretary. Since 2015, he has been working (on-deputation) in the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as the National Project Manager for the project titled ‘Safe and Environmentally Sound Ship Recycling in Bangladesh (SENSREC Project –Bangladesh)’. Before his current position he worked in the Ministry of Industries as Deputy Secretary for the period of 2013 to 2014, and had been involved with the development of country's ship recycling industry. He contributed to the development of Bangladesh Ship Recycling Act 2018 which came into effect from 12 February 2018. He heads the IMO Project Management Office in Dhaka with the responsibility to implement the activities of SENSREC Project–Bangladesh at local level, to extend support to the Ministry of Industries with regard to improving the environmental and occupational health & safety standards in the country’s ship recycling yards. Moreover, he has been involved with the execution processes of many initiatives of the Government of Bangladesh, those include implementation of Ship Recycling Facility Plan (SRFP), revision of Bangladesh Ship Breaking and Recycling Rules 2011, developing a project for the establishment of a Treatment Storage and Disposal Facility (TSDF) for managing ship recycling wastes, etc. He completed Bachelor degree and Masters in Agricultural Science from Bangladesh Agricultural University. Later he got MBA from University of West London, UK.
 
Vidyadhar Vasudeo Rane
Vice Chairman
IndustriAll Global Union
Trade Union Leader and believer of free, independent and democratic Trade Union Movement. He is working in Trade Union Movement since 1989 in organized as well as unorganized sector. Represented his union in various seminars, conferences & meetings at National and International level. One of the expert nominated by the workers group of Governing Body of International Labour Organisation (ILO) while drafting the guidelines on “Safety and health in Shipbreaking” for Asian Countries and Turkey- Bangkok, Thailand (2003. Demonstrated in front of British Parliament and on shore of River Thames- London for the rights of shipbreaking workers (2006). International speaker during GMB Congress 2007, London.
 
Elin Saltkjel
Head of QA and Business Development
Grieg Green
Elin Saltkjel holds a Master of Science in Marine Engineering from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. She started her career in modifications and maintenance projects in the offshore oil & gas industry before moving to the marine industry in 2005. Her experience ranges from different management positions from design to aftermarket in a company supplying LNG/ LPG process systems, to more recently working as Fleet Manager for LNG carriers. Two years ago she moved to Grieg Green, a leading company in IHM (Inventory of Hazardous Materials) and sustainable vessel recycling, as Head of QA and Business Development. Part of her job is to visit and evaluate Ship Recycling Facilities around the world, as well as follow-up of ongoing projects.
 
John Stawpert
Manager (Trade & Environment)
International Chamber of Shipping
John joined ICS in September 2002 and covers the issues of Maritime Security and Piracy, Containers, Dangerous Goods and MAPOL Annex V. He is secretary to the ICS Environment Sub-Committee and ICS lead on Ship Recycling. John is a key industry player in the international effort on Ship Recycling. He participated in the development of the IMO Guidelines and worked on the Hong Kong Convention from its beginning. John has headed the ILO Employers delegation at the IMO/ILO/ Basel Convention Joint Working Groups and has represented the industry at a number of hearings on the European Regulation. John has also served on IMO Ship Recycling Seminars in Turkey, China and Thailand and is leading work on the revision of the Transitional Measures for Shipowners Selling a ship for Recycling.
 
Andrew Stephens
Executive Director
Sustainable Shipping Initiative
Andrew has a truly international background in the maritime industry, working for leading maritime service providers, in the position of Chief Operating Officer, such as Wilhelmsen Ships Service and Wallem Group, in a career which has seen him working in the UK, UAE, USA, Norway and Hong Kong. He was responsible for leading and managing business transformation, continuous improvement, integration and change management programmes, drive strategic planning and implementation consequently delivering on improved customer satisfaction, business performance and efficiency. After a successful period in both international groups he joined The Sustainable Shipping Initiative in August 2018, where he is responsible for leadership of the Secretariat.
 
Murali Subramanian
CEO
FIMBank
Murali Subramanian was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the FIMBank Group on the 6th August 2015. He is a results-oriented senior banker with a proven track record in developing and executing growth strategies on a global basis. Prior to joining FIMBank, Mr Subramanian was Executive Vice President at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank for 6 years, where he held the position of Head of Transaction Banking of the Group. His key responsibilities at this financial institution included the management of trade and supply chain growth business where he oversaw the growth and return to profitability of this USD 250 million revenue business. This followed a 21-year career at Citibank and earlier ABN Amro, where he occupied various posts in several geographies, ending his career at Citi as Managing Director, Global Head of Domestic Payables. At Citibank, Murali built the Trade, Supply Chain and Cash Management businesses in MENA, West Africa, Russia and the CIS, extending the company’s domestic payables capabilities in over 100 countries.
 
Michael Suhr
Regional Director North Europe
Korean Register of Shipping
Michael Suhr is the Regional Director at Korean Register of Shipping for North Europe based in Hamburg, Germany. As a child he wanted to become a Captain. He graduated as a shipbuilding and ocean engineer and worked many years in the Classification and Offshore Sectors amongst others as Task Force Surveyor, Head of Newbuilding Projects and Certification, Head of Dockyard Management and as Director Erection & Commissioning. Michael has more than 15 years of leadership experience in the maritime world with always a foot of water under the keel and genuine passion for developments and improvements. His motto is “calm is the source of strength”.
 
John Thorogood
Senior Data Transformation Analyst
IHS Markit
John Thorogood has been involved in Maritime Data research and analysis for some 15 years with IHS Markit’s (previously known as Lloyd’s Register-Fairplay) Maritime & Trade division. This followed on from a career in the aviation industry. John currently holds a senior position in IHS Markit’s Security & Risk team which tracks merchant vessel casualties and demolition activity on a worldwide basis. He has built up an extensive knowledge of end-of-life vessel disposals with a particular emphasis on South East Asian recycling markets. He lives in West Sussex, UK and in his spare time is a keen badminton player and cyclist and plays an active part in his local church.
 
Keiji Tomoda
Chairman, Ship Recycling Committee
Japan Shipowners' Association
Keiji Tomoda started his shipping carrier with "K" Line in 1982, mainly involved with container/car carrier business sectors, setting up "K" Line-owned agencies in UK while stationed in London 6.5 years and Vietnam as well as arranging investmentin container terminals and handling alliance issues. Became General Manager of Global Operation Center for "K" Line’s container fleet and equipment in "K" line (Singapore) while in UK. In 2010 career was extended to cooperate in Planning and Maritime Industry Affairs at "K" Line's Tokyo Head Office. Having dual responsibilities as a member of Japan Shipowners' Association (JSA) since 2010, am now in charge as Chairman of Ship Recycling Committee of JSA. Have worked past 7 years with Ship Recycling issues at JSA and also Asian Shipowners' Association with periodical visits to various Ship Recycling yards, Yard Operators and concerned government parties in China, India, etc. Concurrently also hold title of Associate Director of "K" Line.
 
Marc van de Poel
Managing Director
van de poel │m.a.r.c
Marc van de Poel is Managing Director of m.a.r.c BV (Maritime Asbestos & Recycling Consultants). The company, founded in 2011, is a global supplier of Inventories of Hazardous Materials and asbestos inventories in the maritime and offshore industry worldwide and an associate member of the International Ship Recycling Association (ISRA). He is also an associate member of the Royal Association of the Netherlands Shipowners and Secretary General of IHMA (International Hazmat Association). Marc is also CEO of Van de Poel holding which operates a number of consultants focused on sustainable recycling and participates with other agencies in the sustainable recycling industry. After having worked as an officer for the Royal Netherlands Air Force and as a project manager for several engineering and consultancy companies, Marc founded his own company (Van de Poel holding) in 2000. He has been involved in the ship recycling industry since 2001.
 
Captain Prashant S. Widge
Head of Responsible Ship Recycling
Maersk
Over 20 years ago, Prashant stepped on board a merchant vessel and became one of the youngest officers to command it. He next came ashore with Maersk and spent the first four years systematizing ship-board risk and crisis management. Over the past four years, he has led the responsible ship recycling programme aimed at creating global opportunities for benefiting Maersk, workers and the environment as well as responsible yard and shipowners. Whilst handling a multitude of stakeholders, his team manages to select, engage, lead and upgrade the yards and broader Alang area. He holds an Executive MBA in Shipping and Logistics from Copenhagen Business School (CBS) and has received awards in leadership, business, community, and social impact categories by prestigious organizations. Most recently, CBS has appointed him as its first Ambassador in India to enhance the already established links between the maritime industry of his home country and Denmark.
 
Claude Wohrer
Secrétariat général de la Mer
Prime Minister's Office, Government of France
Currently attached to the “Secretariat Général de la mer” (Secretariat general for the Sea), office of the French prime minister. Graduated as a doctor in ocean sciences from the University of Paris. Undertook research on environmental issues of nuclear plants, and joined the MoD as a civilian engineer for the Navy. In addition, spent several periods in practicing research in ocean sciences both in France and overseas. Her assignments covered project management and technical expertise of various defence programmes, including French hydrographic and oceanographic vessel. From April 2006 to April 2007, was part of the French Inter ministerial Committee on the Dismantling of Civilian and Military end of life ships. In 2009, she was the Head of the French delegation for the adoption of the Hong Kong Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recyling of Ships, and after the adoption of the HKC, she chaired some Maritime Environment Protection Committee Working group related to the HKC guidelines. She was the chairperson of the Environmentally sound dismantling of ships’ working Group for the Tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention (Cartagena, Colombia, 17–21 October 2011). She is today member of the Ship Recycling Regulation Committee established in June 2015, under article 25 of the EU Ship Recycling Regulation (1257/2013)