Conference Speakers 2020

CEO
Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC)

Mr. Ali Shehab Ahmad is the Deputy CEO of Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC), the maritime transportation arm of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC). In his current role, he oversees KOTC’s fleet operations, Marine Agency Branch and the LPG Filling Branch that supplies LPG to the whole of Kuwait.
Prior to assuming the Dty. CEO role in mid-2013, Mr. Ali Shehab successfully managed KOTC’s multi-billion dollar Fleet New Building Program that aims to expand KOTC’s tanker fleet to match KPC’s 2030 Strategic vision of 4 million barrels per day and also induct modern environment-friendly technologies on board all the KOTC vessels.

Chairperson and Managing Director
The Shipping Corporation of India

Mrs. H.K.Joshi, Chairperson and Managing Director, joined SCI on 5th February, 2015 as Director (Finance) and was also appointed as CFO, SCI w.e.f. the same date. During her term lasting less than five years, she held multiple additional charges from time to time at the Board level - of Director (Personnel & Administration) in 2017-18, Director (Bulk Carrier & Tankers) in 2019, CMD from 12th September 2019 consequent to completion of the tenure of the former CMD and currently she holds the additional charge of Director (Finance) w.e.f. 19th December 2019 when she was appointed by the Government of India as the Chairperson & Managing Director, SCI.

Chairman
KBI UAE

H.E. Khamis Juma Buamim is the founder and chairman of KBI-uae which is a conglomerate operating in several sectors including oil & gas, energy, navigation and industry. H.E. Khamis Juma Buamim is a board member of Gulf Craft Inc and Asia Think Tank Group for future maritime transformation and the Global advisor for the MareForum, formerly he was Board Member and MD and Group CEO of Gulf Navigation Holding PJSC and Board Member of Drake and Scull International PJSC. H.E. Khamis Juma Buamim is the Chairman of the Dubai Council for Marine and Maritime Industries, the specialized industry council formed to promote the interests of the offshore and maritime industry in Dubai and the UAE. He is also Chairman of Arab Association for Petroleum Professionals (AAPP), for the professionals in the oil and gas industry in the Middle East and the world to connect, network and collaborate to tackle major challenges facing the industry. In addition, he is the former Chairman of the Federal Committee for the Revision and Update of the UAE Maritime Law, the committee was created to review and update the UAE Commercial Maritime Law and formulate a new & futuristic law that will propel and govern the ongoing potential growth of business and the maritime industry in the UAE and the region.

H.E. Khamis Juma Buamim is the former Chairman and Chief Executive officer of Drydocks world and Maritime world and Chairman of the Board of DDWPaxOcean Asia PTE Singapore and has successfully led the organization through its restructuring during the global financial crisis. His leadership and direction have been instrumental in the company being able to acquire several pioneering projects on a global scale. This leadership has seen the company move from close to financial failure, create major synergies, recognize potential and place the organization firmly on a path driven to sustainable profitability and growth.

H.E. Khamis Juma Buamim is a Leading veteran in the oil and gas industry worked with Conoco and ConocoPhillips for 26 years and held various corporate and management positions, including vice president of Dubai oil company, a
subsidiary of ConocoPhillips in the United Arab Emirates. He was also the Chairman and CEO of Regional Clean Sea Organization (RECSO) the oil industry environmental arm in the Gulf region.

H.E. Khamis Juma Buamim is involved in a number of leading private & public organization, he was member of the Dubai Government Crises and Disasters Management Team, member of the Advisory board of Emirates Classification
Society (Tasneef), Vice Chairman of the Federal Transportation Authority Technical Committee, Advisor to the Career Gulf Development and Senior Advisor in the Middle East and North Africa- Business strategies & International
Energy.

H.E. Khamis Juma Buamim has won many Awards and life time achievements, including being recognized as the most influential maritime top 50 personalities in the world by Tanker Shipping & Trade magazine of London 2015, The Maritime Standard Hall of Fame 2016, H.H sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Business Award 2014, The Tatweej Personality Award for leadership, management and business 2014, The "Outstanding Lifetime Achievement" award from Lloyd's List London for his contribution to the in an exemplary & profound manner and for his distinguished service to the maritime sector in the UAE, his role in reviving the legacy shipbuilder & helping to instill new energy into the Dubai & UAE maritime scene, The year personality award in the field of marine and maritime industry by International Ships Techniques 2013, Sword of Honors from the British Safety Council “ London 2014, The International Prize in Human Resource Management, The Archimedes Achievement Award "for excellence and exchange of
knowledge" - United States of America and many others.

H.E. Khamis Juma Buamim holds Bachelor of Business Administration and Economics - United Kingdom and the National Administration degree in Crises Management and incident Command - United States of America and the Highaccreditation on international human resources management (IPM) & a Credited executive in Mergers, acquisitions and transformation including corporate restructuring, finance and growth.

Director Fleet Management
Bahri Ship Management

A 28-year veteran of Saudi Aramco, Vela International Marine Ltd, and Bahri. Alhammad worked as an Operations Engineer for Saudi Aramco’s Terminal Department from 1997 till 2002. He left Aramco and joined Vela as Site Inspector, then Site Manager for Vela’s Shipbuilding Department working on the building of 4 MR Tankers and 10 VLCC’s in South Korea between 2004 and 2010. In 2011 moved back to Vela’s office in Dubai as Technical Manager then Fleet Manager until the merger with Bahri in 2014. At Bahri, Alhammad moved up the ranks to the current position of Director, Fleet Management overseeing a fleet of 87 vessels including 41 VLCC’s.

Alhammad holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical & electronics engineering from Oregon State University.

Acting CEO
Oman Shipping Company & Oman Drydocks Company

Ibrahim Al-Nadhairi is the Acting Chief Executive Officer for Oman Shipping Company and Oman Dry Dock Company, His las position was Chief Operating Officer of Oman Shipping Company and in charge of the ship management segment looking after the technical management of the fleet and overseeing the running of the company’s asset with third party managers. He is leading a multinational organization to run a business that extends all over the world with mobile units and over 1900 persons. Extensive experience in engineered systems and process that require deep understanding of critical business drivers in multiple market and industries. Highly successful in seizing control of critical problems and delivering on customer commitments. Industry focused and performance driven. Ibrahim has undergone extensive executive training at INSEAD and is a UK qualified chief engineer with MBA and PhD in management.

Mayor, Sparta & Former Deputy Minister of Finance and Foreign Affairs
Greece

Mr. Petros Doukas has a Ph.D. in Economics from New York University. He studied Economics and International Relations at George Washington University (Bachelor of Arts), Management and Fiscal Relations at Columbia (MBA) and Economics at New York University (MA and Ph.D. in Economics). From 1979 to 1985 he worked as an Economist and Currency Analyst for Citibank in New York, and also as Foreign Exchange Exposure Management Advisor, Foreign Exchange Dealer, and Money Market Dealer. In 1986 he took over as Citibank Investment Banking Country Head and Country Treasurer for Greece, and in 1990 also took over as Country Head for the Institutional and Corporate Banking sectors. From August 1992 to October 1993 he was Deputy Minister of Finance in the government of Konstantinos Mitsotakis, with the Public Debt and Public Assets among his responsibilities. In 1994 he returned to Citibank, and in 1996 he founded Capital Partners SA., which deals mainly in strategic partnerships and company takeovers and mergers. In March 2004 he was elected deputy for the Precinct of Attica and was appointed Deputy Minister for the Economy and Finance, Head of the General Accounting Office. His responsibilities included the formulation and implementation of the Budget, Central Government Debt & Operations, Government Security Auctions, Public Trusts, Loans and Bonds, the Public Corporation for Moveable Assets, Subsidy Programs and Management of Public Funds, the State Bursar’s and Payments Office (State Treasury), Fiscal Relations with the EU, Fiscal Validation of the Ministries, Prefectural Governments and Legal Entities under Public Statute and Civil Servants Pension Funds. In September 2007 he was re-elected MP for Attica and appointed Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy.

Senior Advisor- Board Member
Marcura Group

Jesper Kjaedegaard is an independent Board member of several Maritime related companies and a Senior Advisor at the Marcura Group, whose products include DA-Desk, Martrust, and Mardocs.

Mr. Kjaedegaard had a long career with the A.P.Moller-Maersk Group where he served as a member of the A.P.Moller-Maersk Group’s Executive Board for all Container related Business, whilst also heading up the company's global liner division, known then as Maersk-Sealand.

He currently serves/has served as a Non-Executive Board Director for a number of both listed and privately owned transport related companies in Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. This includes V-Group, Hafnia Tankers, Red Sea Gateway Terminals, Seatruck Ferries, APMT Bahrain and BIMCO.

Jesper Kjaedegaard is also past President of the British Chamber of Shipping and Chairman of Maritime UK – a body which represents all maritime interests in the UK including ship-owners, ports, banks, legal firms, classification societies, and insurance companies.

CEO
Emirates Ship Investment Company

Chris Peters Joined Eships in May 2009 and took over as CEO in March 2017, having previously been the CFO. Chris joined Eships from GE Commercial Finance and was previously at Nordea Bank, having almost 20 years banking experience, of which the last 13 years were directly in shipping/offshore finance. Chris attained an MBA from Cass (formerly City University) Business School London, majoring in Finance and Strategy. He has worked on multiple senior debt and project finance facilities as MLA and has overseen several shipping IPO facilities.  Whilst at GE he was responsible for structuring and negotiating several equity acquisitions from a shipping fleet to a shipping bank. As CEO, Chris is directly responsible for the implementation of the shareholders strategy for the business ensuring not only the financial targets are met, but met, whilst upholding the groups commitment to safety and good corporate governance

Senior Vice President, Ship Management
ADNOC Logistics & Services

Captain Mohamed Al Ali is the Senior Vice President Ship Management at ADNOC Logistics and Services (L&S) since 2018. In his current role at ADNOC L&S, he oversees the Technical and Crew Management of ADNOC L&S’ fleet, including LNG and LPG carriers, Tankers, Dry Bulk carriers, Container Feeders, Offshore and Marine Service vessels.

Captain Al Ali has over 20 years of successful experience in oil and gas and shipping. He started his career as a deck cadet with National Gas Shipping Company Ltd (NGSCO), a wholly-owned subsidiary of ADNOC in 1996, and rose to become the first UAE National Master on an LNG carrier in 2008. While there, he also spearheaded a number of joint energy efficiency and optimization projects between Abu Dhabi National Tanker Company (ADNATCO) and NGSCO, achieving Energy Management Standard ISO 50001 and Asset Management Standard 55001.

Captain Al Ali and his team are the recipients of several local and international Maritime Awards such as ADNOC HSE, Dubai Sustainability, Maritime Standard and Sea Trade awards. Captain Al Ali holds an Executive Master Degree in Business Administration from Zayed University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Maritime Business and Management from John Moores University in Liverpool, UK.

CEO
Synoff Synergy Offshore FZ LLE

Currently CEO of Synergy Offshore, a Dubai based energy consultancy firm, Fazel was previously the CEO of Topaz Energy and Marine. Fazel has more than 30 years of experience in the Oil Field Services, Marine and the Energy sectors in multicultural and dynamic organizations and has recently been appointed as a Senior Advisor to Douglas
Westwood/Westwood Energy Group for the Middle East. He has a proven track record of leadership and entrepreneurial growth, with a “hands-on” approach to team building and operations that spanned the Middle East, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Brazil and West Africa. His significant exposure to M&A, turnarounds, business restructures, start-ups and the development of new markets in frontier territories allows him to provide a high caliber consultancy service to both trade and the financial sector that needs an in-depth industry perspective.

COO
Marcura Group

Hans-Christian is COO of The Marcura Group and Managing Director of DA-Desk, the flagship of Marcura (2001) and the world’s largest provider of port spend management services. As Group COO, Hans-Christian’s primary focus is high quality service delivery and strategic direction for Marcura’s established businesses in the payments, procurement and voyage administration sectors. As Managing Director of DA-Desk, he also manages relations with existing and new DA-Desk customers, agents and partners to ensure they derive the maximum value from the services of DA-Desk. He has held a number of senior positions previously including Chief Commercial Officer for Team Lines; Managing Director for Maersk Line in Russia, Finland and Baltic states; and European Sales & marketing Director for P&O Nedlloyd.
Hans-Christian is a Danish national and based in Dubai, where Marcura is headquartered, since 2012.

Partner
WFW

Andrew is a Partner in the Finance Group at Watson Farley & Williams and head of the firm’s Dubai office.
 
Andrew specialises in cross-border asset and project finance, with particular emphasis on the marine transportation and offshore sectors. He has acted on loan and leasing transactions as well as structured financings and products.
 
He also represents shipping companies in relation to non-contentious commercial shipping matters, including sale and purchase, newbuilding contracts and resales, joint ventures and strategic alliances, pooling arrangements, COAs, charters and other contracts of employment for ships, shipping related assets and offshore assets.
 
Another key practice area is Islamic finance, where Andrew has acted on a wide range of transactions for banks and owners of assets of all classes, from shipping and offshore through to real estate. His experience encompasses not only Islamic banking products but also funds and capital markets products.
 
Andrew is recognised as a leading shipping finance lawyer by legal directories Legal 500 EMEA, Chambers UK and Chambers Global. In 2019, Chambers Global recognised him as a “ great lawyer with lots of regional experience”, with one client styling him “absolutely superb”.

Senior Manager
Emirates Maritime Arbitration Centre

Vanessa Welch has established a career in operations and corporate management in the UAE over a span of 25 years. Her journey in logistics and then shipping started in 2003 and has seen her working in supply chain management, chartering and operations. In her role at Vela International Marine Limited from 2007, Vanessa specialized in crude chartering and scheduling specifically with VLCCs. Having taken a year’s sabbatical to complete her studies with the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS), then winning the ICS award for Tanker Chartering in recognition from Shell, Vanessa joined the United Arab Chemical Carriers and worked in the commercial department with vessels carrying petroleum products. In 2019, the ICS recognized Vanessa as a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, one of the few women in the Middle East to have achieved that honour. After a short absence from the maritime industry, Vanessa returned to a role with the Emirates Maritime Arbitration Centre as their Senior Manager. As part of the Centre’s founding team, and taking a lead in the Centre’s business development and marketing efforts, as well as, playing an integral role in the Dubai’s maritime cluster, Vanessa has helped create a platform that brings the maritime community together through discussion about issues and frustrations faced in the sector as a whole. EMAC’s breakfasts have been a staple event for the maritime industry in the region for the last few years. In bridging the gap between legal and commercial, her mantra continues to be that of ‘Be the change you would like to see in the world.’ With that in mind, Vanessa continues to be involved in various initiatives through which shipping can market itself to attract talent to build on competency in the sector.

Vice President, Business Development
International Maritime Industries

Julian Panter was formally the Group Head of HR and Administration for Lamprell Energy Limited (LEL).  He joined International Maritime Industries (IMI) in 2016 (following LEL’s commitment to take a 20% shareholding in IMI), moving across to IMI full-time during the initial start-up / planning phases; as the Vice President of HR and Training. Following successful registration of the Company and acquisition of key board approvals; allowing the Company to novate (in December 2017), he was asked to lead the Business Development function as Vice President in early 2018 and was formally appointed as a member of IMI’s Executive Committee soon after. Panter is now responsible for supporting the strategic direction of the Company by ensuring IMI works with key international partners in the global rig, ship building & MRO market. His team is responsible for building strong relationships with clients from the bid process, through the build, and then continuous build servicing. His team also have responsibility for corporate communications, marketing and brand development. Panter has a Masters’ Degree from Middlesex University in Human Resource Management and is a full Chartered Member of the CIPD. He has spent 13 years in the Middle East; 6 of those years with Lamprell in the UAE overseeing the Groups human resources and a further 4 years with IMI, based out of their corporate head office in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

Business Development Director Middle East & Africa
DNV GL - Maritime

He is a Marine Engineer who started his career at sea and after sailing as a Chief Engineer joined DNV in 1995 at Bahrain. He started out as a Surveyor and a Lead Auditor for Quality and Safety Management system and later relocated to Singapore. As a Project Manager for Conversions in Singapore he was amongst the pioneers involved in shuttle tanker conversions & LNG Ships Life Extensions. He subsequently took on the role of Country manager for Indonesia & after a successful assignment there relocated back to Singapore. He established the Singapore Service Center where, as a Senior Principal Surveyor and Lead Auditor he streamlined customer support & enhanced efficiency by providing a single point of contact for all operational issues.
He relocated to Dubai late last year and took up his present role.

Group MD
Seamaster Maritime

Mr. Rashid Isa Rishi AlHeddi (B.Com, LLB, MICS, MNI) is the Group Managing Director at Seamaster Maritime L.L.C. (formerly V.Ships Agency L.L.C.), and has been since January 2000. Born in Gujarat, India, he holds B.Com and LLB degrees from Bombay University; he is qualified as FICS, and has attended numerous training courses regarding various aspects of Shipping in the UK, Netherlands, Hong Kong and India. Additionally, he attended a Shipping Management course at IIM Ahmedabad, and a Marketing Diploma from UK.

Mr. Rashid AlHeddi has a career spanning over 40 years in the industry, starting with P&O, and the Mackinnon Mackenzie Group of companies. From there he transitioned into BMMI and MMI, now Inchcape Shipping Services, before joining V.Ships as the Middle East Managing Director; and was promoted to Worldwide Head of Agency Services V.Groups’s V.Ships Agency in 2005. He left V.Ships after 8 years and settled down to run Seamaster Maritime L.L.C., and has been instrumental in the group of companies growth since then. He has been an active member of Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, the Institute of Logistics and Transport, and the Executive Committee of the Nautical Institute since 2001 where for past three years he has been the Vice Chairman of the UAE branch. Mr. Rashid AlHeddi has been living and working in the Arabian Gulf for four decades, is married to a Bahraini national and has two children. His son, Mr. Ramee R. has been working with the family group of companies since 2010, now as a Director.

Partner
Stephenson Harwood

A banking and finance expert in the Dubai office with a particular focus on asset and structured finance, Nijoe is well known for using his broad experience of complex, cross-border transactions and developing innovative structures specialising in the maritime and aviation sectors. Clients value his highly commercial and pragmatic approach.
Nijoe's experience in the Middle East consists of portfolio (maritime and aviation) acquisitions and disposals, complex loan (bilateral and syndicated) financings, Islamic financings, operating and financing leasing transactions. He advises all major national and international lenders, investors, lessors and operators around the world on financing structures involving the maritime and aviation industries.
He has worked on path breaking aviation matters involving reputed names from the domestic and international aviation industries. He is reputed in the market for his work involving complex multi-jurisdictional security structures for aircraft components and spare parts - leasing and financing.
Nijoe's client base also consists of reputed UAE family houses, businesses, government al departments and high net worth individuals whom he also advises on all aspects of UAE corporate and commercial law. This includes but is not limited to mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and on project finance matters.
Prior to joining Stephenson Harwood, Nijoe was the legal advisor to the maritime department of Department of Transport for the Government of Abu Dhabi. He is also a frequent guest lecturer to the Hamburg School of Business Maritime, teaching students business related issues regarding Islamic finance and the shipping industry.
Ship and offshore finance
Petrochemical trading company
Advised a large petrochemical trading company in the UAE in acquisition of their shipping fleet of tankers with transactions worth over US$50 million.
Large UAE Bank
Advised a large UAE Bank on a complex vessel lease finance transaction worth US$265 million for a super specialised derrick lay vessel.
Leading offshore services company
Advised a leading offshore services company in structuring senior and mezzanine finance for acquisition of a fleet of offshore supply vessels.

Banking and financial services regulations
Basel III obligations
Advised one of the largest international Chinese banks on their Basel III obligations under the UAE Central Bank.
DFSA regulatory advice
Advised large Chinese bank based out of the Dubai International Financial Centre on their compliance with the Dubai Financial Services Authority’s (DFSA) regulations.
International Islamic finance
Advised DIFC based bank on their participation in an international Islamic finance transaction and their compliance under DFSA regulations.
Corporate
Leading educational group - M&A deal
Advised a leading school operator in their acquisition of an American curriculum school in the UAE of a deal amounting to UAE Dirhams 55 million.
UAE business establishment
Advised one of the world's leading lubricants manufacturer on their establishment in the UAE and structuring their man power related issues.
UAE professional services company acquisition
Advised the largest facilities management organisation in their acquisition of UAE based professional services company in a transaction worth UAE Dirhams 12 million.
Aviation finance
Aircraft fleet acquisition
Advised a leading private aircraft owner and operator in the acquisition of their fleet of 22 fixed wing and rotary aircrafts.
Complex hybrid aircraft financing
Advised a large UAE bank on complex hybrid financing involving aircraft engines and components in a multi-jurisdictional transaction amounting to over US$200 million.
Large aircraft components financing
Advised UAE bank on aircraft components financing for large international aircraft components financier in transactions valued at over US$100 million.

Regional Director – Middle East
Turkey & Africa, Marlink Communications FZ-LLC

A driven and accomplished senior satellite communications strategist and experienced business developer across several regional markets, Roger Harfouch was appointed in May 2013 as Regional Director for Marlink Communications FZ LLC, for Middle East, Greece, Turkey and Africa. With his far reaching knowledge and experience across both the land and maritime sectors, he has impressive industry credentials and a sharp focus particularly on the emerging markets. His industry skills and far reaching experience have been recognized by several of the world’s leading telecoms solutions companies during his career.

Working for Eighteen years across what has become a highly competitive telecommunications industry, Roger Harfouch has set his sights firmly on generating continued growth across the global satellite communications industry, most notably within the maritime sector.

Starting out as Technical & Commercial Manager with U.S.A.N (United States African Networks) in 2001 – International Voice and Internet Provider, covering the Central African region whilst based out of Burundi, Roger was responsible for the design and setup of local Terrestrial & Wireless Internet Services Provider - ISP network in Burundi & Congo. Reporting to head office he took over later commercial activities for local market analysis in order to achieve revenue growth and helped setup new product lines for the market.

Assimilating quickly to the African telecom market with two years valuable experience under his belt, he moved to the United Arab Emirates in 2003 to take up a more senior Technical Project Manager position with Dubai-based, MEConnect FZ. Project Manager of several satellite projects across the Middle East with specific focus in Iraq, Roger’s responsibility to design and install several Satellite terminals sites, as well provide training to engineers on new equipment installed.

With valuable telecoms set up and after sales experience, Roger went on to secure his position in Widenet Inc Canada, selling Network and VSAT solutions for remote sites across Canada and United States. He has to deal with mining and Oil companies selling turn key solutions, within short period he was able to secure large contracts to the company HiNet Limited, Lebanon as Senior Account Manager for Middle East, Afghanistan and North Africa. There he extended his VSAT project sales experience across iDirect shared platforms and the SCPC dedicated links, including Mesh Networks for corporate networks by developing Sales Channel and Direct sales, which results in 60 direct client accounts between Partners and Clients during his two years with the company. He was directly responsible for breaking into new markets across Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Sudan, which included Tracking Fleet Managements, Fixed Satellite Services and other Mobile Satellite Services. Positioning HiNet as one of the most competitive satellite service providers in the region was a major early career achievement for Roger.

Overcoming the challenging market conditions during the global economic downturn of late, Roger’s career move to Vizada (former France Telecom Mobile Satellite Communications & Telenor Satellite Services) as Regional Sales Manager, Middle East and Africa proved his ability as a skilful developer of new business. His focus here was initially within the Oil and Gas sector extending Vizada’s reach with MSS products such as Inmarsat services to oil exploration customers in the Middle East. Promoted in 2010 to become International Sales Manager, he was able to widen his market knowledge into the maritime sector where he focused on Fleet Broadband sales in the Middle East, Greek and French markets. He is able to widen his market knowledge into the maritime sector where he focused on Fleet Broadband Maritime sales in the Middle East, Greek and French markets. He has managed channel distribution of more than 50 key accounts between Telecom operators, satellite service providers and others. In 2011, as part of a major industry acquisition, Vizada and Marlink its direct sales sister company became part of Airbus Defence & Space (former Astrium Services), one of the world’s largest providers of satellite communications. Airbus Defence & Space is part of EADS Europe’s leading space technology company.

Having significantly expanded his maritime SatCom market experience, particularly across the Greek transportation sector, Roger has optimized his VSAT background and knowledge and positioned Airbus Defence & Space as a global leader in maritime projects for transportation as well as offshore business, most notably within the growing Middle East and Turkish market.

In 2013, Roger got promoted to become Regional Director at Marlink (Former Airbus Defence & Space), responsible of the Indirect and Direct sales in the Middle East and Africa, including Turkey. He has driven the company growth in Satellite Communication, mainly VSAT maritime, within Transportation and Offshore Segment, positioning Marlink as a global Leader in SatCom solutions and particularly where he is in charged of Middle East and Turkish markets. Marlink has made a year on year growth, securing several fleets wins, connected with the latest VSAT services Technologies. Having securing largest market share, He drives the company strategy on Smart Connectivity by introducing Marlink managed services solutions such as Cyber Security, Remote IT Management and others, providing fleets with improved Operation Efficiency and Secure Assts on board.

Lebanese born, Roger is fluent in Arabic, English and French. He is a graduate of Telecommunications Engineering from Notre Dame University in Lebanon where he adopted his love of skiing in the mountains above Beirut. A keen sports enthusiast he is also passionate about running, playing tennis and yoga to keep fit in between his extensive travel with work. Roger has an analytical and strategic mind which accounts for his keen interest in chess when time allows.

Managing Director
Constellation Marine Services

Capt. Zarir Iràni, FIIMS, FICS, AFNI, HCMM, Asso. CII, NAMS-CMS, MBA
The Chair at Board of Directors at Constellation Marine Services, London, UAE & SINGAPORE.
Current Board member & immediate past global President of – International Institute of Marine Surveying (IIMS) – (2018-2020)
Global Assurance committee member at Nautical Institute, UK.

“A Surveyor delivers trust, accountability and competency via his independent report first and then knowledge and efficiency – much later.”- as quoted by Capt. Zarir Irani.

Zarir represents Antiqua & Barbuda Maritime & Flag State Administration as their sole representative and Regional Director for UAE & Singapore.

Over 29 years of work experience in the Maritime and Offshore oil gas industry of which 16 years as an Independent surveyor having concluded 22,500 nominations as principal of Constellation Marine. (A Master Mariner holding MCA class I license Unlimited foreign going (FG) (valid until 2022.)

Industry Expertise:
• OCIMF Accredited, OVID Inspector(valid 2020)
• Maritime Law-Southampton-short course
• Expert witness @ DIFC courts and courts of Appeal.
• Advanced Accident investigation course
• Member of Chartered Insurance Institute (CII)-UK
• Full Member of NAMS CMS Global, USA
• HAZMAT Course, Warranty surveying course
• NEPIA Loss Prevention course.
• Associate Fellow of Nautical Institute and member of Global Assurance committee UK
• Lead Auditor (IRCA approved)
• Life member of Honorable Company of Master Mariners India & Annual member HCMM in UK.

Today Capt Irani will share with us 3 cases indicative of how complex the world of claim is, oil contamination pollution and putting a finger on “Proximate Cause” V/S assumed causes, that may be discussed endlessly or maybe the “obvious cause”.

He puts forth caselets today from his 16 years of claims experience how one may understand a tanker claim better and what role independent experts play.