Conference Speakers 2017

CEO

Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC)

Sheikh Talal Al-Khaled Al-Sabah is currently the CEO of KOTC and has many years of senior leadership experience in the Oil sector. Prior to his current assignment, Sheikh Talal was the Managing Director (Government and Parliament Public & Media Relations) in KOTC’s parent organization, the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, and the Chairman of KOTC’s Board of Directors. He also serves as a distinguished Chairman and Board Member in other oil sector companies in Kuwait.

As a leader, he has always placed great trust and faith in the inherent capabilities of his people. He has always encouraged the youth to explore and develop and reach to their maximum potential, while being a fully supportive leader.

Sheikh Talal is also quite well-known for his passionate championing of various Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives in Kuwait. He firmly believes that sustainable development is a must for maintaining the health and meeting the needs of our community by living in the Earth’s ecological limits while at the same time, without compromising the needs of future generations.

As a leader he encourages and patronizes all youth activities, Scouting & Guides movement, sports ,body building. Sheikh Talal oversees administration several sporting bodies and professional institutes which encourage education and excellence among youth. <check about his role in PAYS>

He is a positive, proactive and action driven leader who is highly connected with all the oil sector employees and the people of Kuwait.

Director Commercial

DP World – UAE Region

Deputy CEO

Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC)

Ali Shehab Ahmad is a graduate from South Tyneside College (Marine College) in United Kingdom. He sailed as a Chief Engineer on-board KOTC vessels and spent considerable time at sea before being assigned on-shore at KOTC Head Office. His experience at sea, saw him lead the Fleet Personnel Group before being assigned as Manager of the critical New Building Projects Group

He is currently the Deputy CEO of KOTC, holding charge of the Fleet Directorate which includes all operational matters for Fleet which include the Fleet Marine Operations, Engineering, Personnel, New Building Projects, the Marine Agency Branch and the LPG plants in Kuwait.

Prior to this, Mr. Ali Shehab was the Manager for Fleet New Building Projects, and was largely responsible for KOTC Fleet Renewal plans as well as inducting modern environment-friendly technologies on-board all the vessels.

While stationed at Ulsan, Korea from 2005 to 2007, as KOTC Site Manager at Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), he was awarded the Ulsan Honorable Citizenship by the Ulsan City Mayor in Oct 2007.

He also serves as a distinguished Chairman and Board Member in KOTC subsidiary shipping companies. He is also the Chairman of the DNV-GL Middle East Technical Committee – which is the No.1 Classification Society in the world, and a member of ABS – South East Asia and the Middle East Technical committee.

As a leader, he has always placed great trust and faith in the inherent capabilities of his colleagues. He has always encouraged them to explore and develop and reach to their maximum potential, while being a fully supportive leader.

Ambassador


Republic of Panama

Eduardo Fonseca Ward is the first Ambassador of the Republic of Panama to the United Arab Emirates and first Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, position he currently holds since June of 2016. Prior to that he was appointed as Consul General in Dubai in 2014. He is responsible for the political, economic and consular affairs of Panama for most of the MENA region. He is a graduate from the Santa Clara University in California and Panama´s Diplomatic Academy.

Chief Executive Officer

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

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.

Chairman

S One Capital

Mr. Sanjay K. Mehta has over 25 years’ experience in proprietary fund management, investment banking and mergers and acquisition. Sanjayhas wealth of experience in the industries of maritime transportation,port infrastructure, mobile telephony, oil & gas and power generation industries in which he has lead financing and M&A transaction in excess of USD 12 billion.

Sanjay since 2014 is chairman of his family trust fund, S ONE Trust and is CEO of S ONE Capital, asset manager of the trust fund based out ofGeneva and London, prior to that Sanjay held the position of ManagingDirector, Essar Capital Limited asset manager for Essar Global Fund aUSD 34 billion proprietary fund of the Ruia family. In 2006 Sanjay wasinstrumental in setting up of Essar Global Fund and its investmentmanager Essar Capital Limited. At Essar Global Fund he led andexecuted on a wide range of high profile M&A, financing, capital markettransactions including one of the largest IPO on London Stock Exchange.

Prior to joining Essar, Sanjay worked for Hambros Bank, London, Goldman Sachs / J Aron & Co, New York and American Marine AdvisorsInc. New York. Mr. Mehta is independent director and member of riskcommittee on the board of Steamship Mutual Limited, London. He isalso independent board member of American Bureau of Shipping.

Sanjay has MBA from London Business School, London He graduated with Honours Degree from London School of Economics, London. Heresides in Geneva and England.

Manager, Maritime Security

BIMCO

Prior to pursuing a career in maritime security Phil was an officer in the Royal Marine Commandos, attaining the rank of Major after 31 years military service. His military career included littoral operations on a global scale, warfighting and specialization in cold weather warfare. Since leaving in 2010, Phil has managed offshore security in the Indian Ocean High Risk Area in support of seismic operations, which included 2 Somali pirate attacks at sea. He went on to establish and coordinate anti-piracy transit operations for a respected PMSC based in Dubai. Phil has a thorough understanding of port operations, personnel training requirements, compliance and management systems.
Phil joined BIMCO in 2015 and his primary role is to assist members with all aspects of maritime security;

Executive Partner

Hadef & Partners

Chief Executive Officer


Oman Shipping Company S.A.O.C

Tarik Al Junaidi joined OSC in 2005 as Head of Commercial, including Business Development. He was promoted to Deputy CEO and then assumed the role of Acting CEO until he was promoted to Chief Executive Officer in the year 2015. Prior to joining OSC, he worked for HSBC, in Financial Planning and Global Enterprise looking after Sales and Marketing. In terms of education, he recently completed an Executive MBA in Shipping, Finance, and Offshore from BI Management School in Norway and Nantong Technical University in Singapore. Prior to this, in 2004, he completed an MBA from The University of Western Australia, after graduating from The Florida Atlantic University, USA with a BSc. in International Business & Marketing.

President – Maritime & Operations


Gulf Navigation Holding PJSC

Omar Abu Omar , the President of Maritime and Operations in Gulf Navigation Holding PJSC, previously he worked as a Chief Operating Officer for the Emirates Classification Society (Tasneef). Prior to that Omar worked as Area Manager & Regional Business Development Manager for Det Norske Veritas (DNV) in Middle East Region and in Oslo Headquarter. Omar obtained a Master Degree in Marine Technology from Trondheim University in Norway. He speaks 3 languages with 20 years of international experience from the maritime industry in Norway, United Arab Emirates, Canada, Japan and the Palestinian Territory. He brings great experience in senior management, organizational capabilities building, strategic planning, ships new building, ships plan approval, ships in operation with strong record of growth, quality and customer relations building.

Managing Director

McQuilling Shipping Services DMCC, Dubai

Hari as he is known in commercial circles is a master mariner having sailed in command of crude/chemical and CPP tankers. He offers a unique blend of sea and shore- extensive, international and multinational work experience in a wide range of shipping sectors which include marine operations, training, auditing, crewing, QHSE, commercial operations, chartering, sale & purchase, projects and strategic business development. Cultivating on his commercial acumen, he has spent the last decade cementing his position in the commercial world of shipping. He has had the privilege of working in the commercial department of a very large shipowner, thereby bringing tremendous experience and insight into the role he is in today. Highly respected for his work ethics and commercial knowledge, Hari set up McQuilling Dubai in 2012 as the MD. McQuilling Partners is a privately owned marine services company and is seated on both the International and Asian Baltic Exchange tankers panels. In addition to its regional presence in Dubai, Mumbai and Delhi, the group is headquartered in New York with offices in Singapore, Athens, Caracas, Houston, Lima Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro. For the past three consecutive years, McQuilling Partners has been named among the top ten shipbrokers in the world by Lloyd’s List. Hari is today a partner in the group, and is also the MD of McQuilling India. He is a certified auditor by DNV. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered shipbrokers, and was the recipient of the Global Tanker chartering award. He is a member of the committee of the ICS, UAE, and lectures regularly to aspiring students on Tanker chartering/markets/ship management. In addition, he is also the vice-chairman of the Nautical Institute UAE Branch. Hari has authored several papers that have been published in various maritime publications. Any spare time he has is spent with his wife and two children.

Regional Director – Middle East, Turkey & Africa

Marlink Communications FZ-LLC

Since May 2013, Roger Harfouch has served as Regional Director for Marlink Communications, covering the Middle East, Greece, Turkey and Africa. Working for over 16 years in the telecommunications business, Roger has far reaching knowledge and experience in both the land and maritime sectors. Since joining Marlink he has driven the company’s growth in the VSAT maritime market, positioning the company as a leader in SatCom solutions. In particular he has achieved considerable success in the Middle East and Turkish markets. Marlink has made year-on-year growth securing new large fleet additions, connected with the latest VSAT technologies. Lebanese-born, Roger is fluent in Arabic, English and French.

Executive Director, Structured Finance

Standard Chartered Bank

Gaurav Moolwaney is an Executive Director – Shipping Finance with Standard Chartered Bank. Based in Singapore, he is involved in originating, structuring and executing debt and lease transactions in the shipping and offshore space across ASEAN, South Asia and the Middle East. With more than 10 years of broad based banking experience, Gaurav has worked across various international roles based out of Singapore, Dubai and London. Gaurav has a Bachelors Degree from Mumbai University and holds an MBA from National University of Singapore.

CEO/Director

SCM Plus (Pvt) Ltd

Ruanthi started her career in Sri Lanka at Ceylon Shipping Corporation, as a young Trainee and later was an integral part of the team that introduced containerization to Sri Lanka in the late 70s.

Since venturing out in 1981, she has lived and worked in Singapore, Paris, Australia and Hong Kong whilst also traveling to over 25 countries on assignment. She has worked for some of the world’s best maritime companies, such as Neptune Orient Lines, Hapag Llloyd, P&O NedLloyd, Sea Consortium, Samudera, Thomson Clark and Inchcape Shipping Services, where she has held Senior Management and Consultancy positions.

Her immediate past employment was as Global Director of Supply Chain Management (SCM) at Bernhard Schulte Ship Management (BSM) Group which manages over 650 ships operating from over 23 offices around the world. She enjoyed the rare honor of being invited to be the Godmother to one of the Schulte ships.
Currently she runs her own Consultancy company “SCM-PLUS” based in Hong Kong, Singapore and Sri Lanka specializing in Cost Containment and Control through Supply Chain Management, Procurement, Contract Negotiations, Business Process Reengineering and Human Capital Optimization.
Ruanthi holds a Doctorate from the University of Newcastle in Australia where her thesis was on the topic of Management of Intellectual Capital and its impact on high human capital turnover industries, with specific focus on the retention of Seafarers. She also holds an MBA from the University of Hull in UK, and has studied Finance and accounting with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants of UK where she gained Fellow membership.
Ruanthi is also a Non-Executive Director of Odel Plc. Sri Lanka and Zesta Tea Ceylon Limited Hong Kong.
Ruanthi is married, and as a MOTHER of 2 kids, she firmly believes in a balanced approach to career and life style.

CEO

MERCMARINE Group of Companies

German-born Thomas Kriwat had a legal background originally, before becoming managing director of Reederei Eugen Friederich in Bremen. He then became managing director of Mercantile Marine Management in Colombo in 2000 before taking on his current role as chief executive of the Mercmarine group, a German-Sri Lankan joint venture, in 2013. Based in Colombo, Thomas is also now vice chairman of the Lanka Association of Shipowners and has written presentations on how to unleash Sri Lanka’s potential as a maritime nation.

Director-Commercial

Drydocks World Dubai

A Mechanical Engineer by profession. Joined Drydocks World – Dubai as an Estimator in 1998, was part of the project management team in completing many successful FPSO conversion, New Building and major upgrade projects. During his tenure as part of special projects team, he was successful in bringing to fruition major contracts for FPSO conversion and new building in addition to numerous repair projects.

Steadily grown in the company and have carried out feasibility study on upgrade projects, acquisition and restructuring. He has attended specialized courses and gained experience in Contract Management, successfully negotiating Contracts for the Company. He has extensive experience working in shipyards in India and Middle East, including a yard managed by Keppel.

Head of Business Development-Middle East


DNV GL

Manager Business Development Middle East – DNV GLMaritime

Ralph Becker is holding an Industrial Engineer degree in MaritimeLogistics from the University of Applied Sciences in Leer, Germany. Prior joining Germanischer Lloyd (GL) in 2006 he worked in various positions in Finance, Technical Management and Chartering. AtGermanischer Lloyd he started his career as Project Manager followed by Business Development Manager for clients in the German home market and from 2011 onas Vice President Middle East & Africa. In 2013 GL and DNV merged to the largest Classification Society in the world. In the new DNV GL organization he is managingtheMaritime Business Development activities in the Middle East.

 

Company profile:

DNV GL provides classification and technical assurance along with software and independent expert advisory services to the maritime, oil and gas, and energy industries. DNV GL also provides certification services to customers across a wide range of industries. Operating in more than 100 countries, 15,000 professionals are dedicated to helpcustomers making the world safer, smarter and greener.

General Manager


Al Safina Security

Kateryna Yakunchenkova – General Manager of Al Safina Security, a Maritime Security Company with its presence in Greece, Singapore and UAE providing the below services as:

* Maritime Security

* Exclusive Yacht Security Services

* Cyber Security

* Oil&Gas Security

* Land Security

A co-partner and co-shareholder of a Trading Group of Companies that is involved into refined oil products trading worldwide with its premises in Hong Kong and Latvia.

An active member of WISTA and MIEVOM Group under UKMTO patronage. An author of multiple articles dedicated to the counter-piracy measures at High Risk Waters and Global Security Issues of the 21st century. Cyber effect on currently automated vessels and oil rigs systems.

2012 – Operations Executive at Al Mina Group of Companies.

2010 – 2011 – Operational and Project Manager in Mestex Shipping.

2009 – up to now – Activist and Co-founder of the Ukrainians Seamen’s Relief Fund

Co-founder of the Seamen’s relief Fund in Ukraine. Close work with Mass Media and drawing attention of the authorities to the problem of the seafarers rights at the sea. The Fund was founded after the successful release of the Ukrainian seafarers from the piracy captivity on the vessel “Ariana”. The initiative was supported by the ex-Ukrainian prime-minister Sergei Tigipko.

Education:

2008 – 2009 – Practice in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

Consul Assistant in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

2004- 2009 – Magister of Political Sciences. Faculty of International Relations/ Social Sciences Institute; Odessa National University

2008 – School of Young Politician, Ukraine, Kyiv

2006 – Attendance of the International Conferences in Germany, Hamburg/ Greece, Athens / Poland, Warsaw dedicated to the Coalition Politics and Policy; Domestic Effects of Immigration; Transitions to Democracy; Combating Piracy in the HRA( 2011, 2012);

2005 – Summer Studying in the University of Crete, Iraklion. Section of Political Sciences and Social Studies

1993 – 2004 – Gymnasium 5