Apostolos Belokas, Founder & Managing Editor, Safety4sea.com
Forum Chairman & Panel Moderator
Apostolos is a Maritime QHSE Consultant, Trainer and Project Manager with 20 year background in shipping as Technical, Marine, Safety & Training Superintendent and Consultant. He entered the industry back in 1992 as Engineering Superintendent with a leading ship manager operating a mixed fleet of bulk and oil/chemical tankers and later shifted to regulatory compliance and QHSE issues as superintendent and later as a consultant.
Apostolos has successfully completed a wide range of QHSE projects including more than 250 management system projects (ISM/ISO 9001-14001-18001/TMSA/MLC), 500 vessel and office audits to various standards and he has personally trained more than 2,500 people in a wide variety of QHSE subjects. He is holding Mechanical Engineering Bachelor and Master's specialising in Energy & Environment and Master's Degrees in Maritime Business and Business Administration (MBA), all of them awarded with distinction.
Apostolos has co-founded IBS Marine back in 1998, while he is the founder and Managing editor of Safety4Sea.com from 2010 onwards where he frequently blogs. Safety4Sea is a pro bono concept to raise Maritime QHSE Awareness.
Session 1 : Industry Key Stakeholder views on Safety, Quality, Environment and Security issues
Clay Maitland, Founding Chairman, NAMEPA, Managing Partner International Registries
Clay Maitland has worked in the shipping industry since graduation from law school in 1968. Clay has been employed by International Registries, Inc. for 35 years and is now a managing partner of the company, which administers the Marshall Islands Ship Registry - the third largest registry in the world. He is President of the Trust Company of the Marshall Islands (TCMI), the statutory Maritime Administrator of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Prior to the year 2000, Clay held similar positions with regard to the maritime administration of the Republic of Liberia.
Among his other affiliations: Director of the Coast Guard Foundation; Member of the American Bureau of Shipping, and of the National Cargo Bureau; Founding Chairman of the North American Maritime Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA), Chairman of the North American Maritime Ministry Association (NAMMA) Industry Advisory Board; Member of the American Bar Association, New York City Bar Association and Maritime Law Association of the United States ; former Chairman of the National Maritime Historical Society; former Chair of the Admiralty Committee of the New York City Bar Association, and of the Committee on Intergovernmental Organizations of the Maritime Law Association of the United States (MLA). Clay has served as a delegate to the Legal Committee of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
Clay received the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from the State University of New York Maritime College in 2006, and was awarded the U.S. Coast Guard's Distinguished Public Service Award in 2010.
Capt. Kuba Szymanski, Secretary General, InterManager
Captain Kuba Szymanski started his sea carrier in 1985. Graduated from the Maritime University of Szczecin with Master Degree and started his deck officer carrier with then Dorchester Maritime Limited Isle of Man. Sailed Gas / Chemical and Product tankers, reaching his first command as a Master in 1999.
In 2001 commenced shore assignment as a Marine Superintendent in the parent Dorchester Maritime Ltd IOM, and was promoted to Marine Manager, DPA in 2004. In 2007 joined MOLTANK Ship Management in London as a General Manager. In 2010 joined InterManager as Secretary General and moved back to the Isle of Man. Captain Szymanski was among very first Lloyds Academy students on the Ship Superintendency course in 2003-2004.
In order to broaden his Managerial horizons studied Executive MBA with International Business School Isle of Man / John Moore Liverpool. Captain Szymanski lectures Risk Management, Information Management, Management of Change in International Business School Isle of Man on the Superintendency Courses.
Willem de Ruiter, Executive Director of European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA)
Willem de Ruiter, Executive Director of EMSA, was born in 1951 in the Netherlands. He studied civil engineering and transport economics and graduated in 1975. Worked for the Ministry of Public Works in the Netherlands from 1975 till 1985 and joined the European Commission Directorate General for Energy and Transport in 1985. Files handled include railways, combined transport and waterways.
Willem de Ruiter became a Head of Unit in maritime shipping in 1996. He dealt initially with economic questions like "tonnage tax" related to the competitive position of the European fleet. Moved to maritime safety in 1999 and was particularly involved in the European (EU) response to the Erika and Prestige accidents. Beginning of 2003 he was appointed as first Executive Director of the European Maritime Safety Agency - EMSA -in charge of setting up the agency in Lisbon Portugal.
Sokratis Dimakopoulos, HSQE Manager, Maran Tankers Management
Sokratis Dimakopoulos is the HSQE (Health, Safety, Quality, Environment) Manager of Maran Tankers Management Inc. He is a Member of INTERTANKO's Safety, Technical & Environmental Committee (ISTEC) and the Chairman of the LRS Hellenic Technical Environmental Sub-Committee.
He graduated as a Chemical Engineer from the National Technical University of Athens and he holds also a M.Sc. in Biotechnology from UMIST/UK. In 1994 he joined the Greek Ministry of Mercantile Marine, as an Officer of the Hellenic Coast Guard being responsible for issues related to the implementation of the MARPOL Convention (survey and certification of Greek flagged vessels). He was also an ISM auditor. In 2003 he was posted as Counsellor at the Maritime Section of the Greek Embassy in Belgium participating as member of the Greek delegation to all EU maritime Committees and Working Groups.
In June 2003, he joined the IMO Secretariat as the Implementation Officer of the Sub-Division for Pollution Prevention of the Marine Environment Division being responsible for MARPOL implementation issues as well as for the issues related to ship recycling and port reception facilities. He was Co-Secretary of the FSI Sub-Committee. From January 2006 until September 2007 he was the DPA/DMR/EMR and CSO of an oil tankers/gas carriers company. From October 2007 onward joined Maran Tankers as HSQE Manager.
Chris Adams, Steamship Mutual Director, Head of Loss Prevention Department
Chris Adams served at sea as a navigating officer with Ellerman City Liners of London. After obtaining a BSc (Hons) degree in Nautical Studies from the University of Southampton in 1977, he came ashore to pursue a career in marine insurance, joining The Steamship Mutual Underwriting Association Ltd., London in 1979 as a Claims Executive. He is currently a Director of Steamship Insurance Management Services Ltd., the London Representatives of the Managers of The Steamship Mutual Underwriting Association (Bermuda) Ltd., a major P&I Club in the International Group. In his current position he has responsibilities as Head of the Europe Syndicate, and Head of the Loss Prevention Department.
Session 2 : Environmental Management
Flemming Sandstrøm, Senior Marine Technical Officer, BIMCO
Flemming Sandstrøm graduated as Naval Architect in 1988 and was employed at J. Lauritzen in the Project Department which was doing project design and new building supervision of the largest refrigerated vessels ever built. Later on J. Lauritzen took over Royal Arctic Line and new container vessels with ice class were designed and built for operation in Greenlandic waters. When the vessels came into service Flemming became the superintendent of both new and existing container vessels.
In 1996 he started at DFDS as superintendent with the responsibility of technical management of a number of ferries and ro/ro vessels. In 2001 he became senior superintendent with the responsibility of the Danish and Swedish fleet and in 2006 he became Technical Manager with the responsibility of all DFDS vessels. In 2010 Flemming moved to the Marine Department of BIMCO with the responsibility, amongst others, to provide guidance to members regarding Green House Gas issues and air emissions and to represent members within various maritime organisations.
Katharine Palmer, Environmental Manager, Lloyd's Register, UK
Katharine Palmer qualified with a BSc (Hons) in Environmental Science from the University of Leeds, UK and a MSc in Environmental Biogeochemistry from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. Katharine joined BP in 1998 where she worked as a Development Chemist in the Marine Lubricants Technology group before joining BP Shipping as the Environmental Specialist.
Katharine was the Environmental Manager for BP Shipping for 10 years whereby she was responsible for setting policy, strategy and frameworks, in addition to providing operational and technical specialist support to BP Shipping operations. Katharine represented BP Shipping on environmental groups externally at OCIMF and the UK Chamber of Shipping and held the post of chairperson at the executive committee of SEAaT. Katharine recently joined Lloyds Register as Environmental Manager for the Environmental Subject Matter Team within Marine Product Development.
Jan Fransen, Managing Director, Green Award Foundation
Jan Fransen, Managing Director of Green Award, was involved with the set-up of the Green Award scheme in the early nineties when he served the Foundation as a Certification Manager. From 2001 he took on the position of Deputy Managing Director and in April 2005 he was appointed the Managing Director. His previous positions include Nautical Officer and several positions at the Dutch Ministry of Transport and the Port of Rotterdam.
Jan can be seen as the 'expedition leader' of Green Award. In the past 15 years he, supported by the Committee and the Board of Experts, faced several challenges related to staff & finance, development of requirements and growth of number of ships. He visits ports and port authorities, embassies, ministries and certificate holders in order to inform them about the Green Award Foundation and establish relations.
In the opinion of Jan Fransen, schemes like Green Award contribute to motivation and differentiation in Quality Shipping. The market mechanism created by Green Award will result in a preference for Quality Tonnage on the charter market and elimination of substandard tonnage. Sustainable developments in maritime transport will be achieved.
Session 3 : Loss Prevention and Future Challenges
Nick Milner, Director of Claims, UK P&I Club / UK Defence Club
Nick obtained an M.A. in Classics at Edinburgh University before switching to Law in London and qualifying as a Barrister. He was called to the Bar in 1995 and is a member of the Honourable Society of Gray's Inn. On completion of pupillage, Nick practiced at the Bar in a Central London common law chambers before moving to Piraeus in 1997 and entering the shipping industry. After spending some time in the Legal Department of a dry ship operator he was employed in the Piraeus office of a leading shipping law firm.
Nick joined Thomas Miller in 1999 as a claims handler for both P&I and FD&D claims. As a P&I claims handler in the Greek office of the UK P&I Club he has been involved throughout his time in the Club's Loss Prevention initiatives and in all manner of advisory work for shipowners and charterers. On a day to day basis he handles cargo shortage and damage claims, F&FO damages, collisions and pollution problems as well as unrecoverable GA claims and salvage cases. On the FD&D side, Nick deals with a broad range of matters for the UK Defence Club including charterparty, Bill of Lading, MOA, shipbuilding and other disputes mainly of a contractual nature. Necessarily, he has developed expertise in dispute resolution through litigation, arbitration, mediation/ADR and regularly conducts negotiations on behalf of the members.
Nick is also a frequent speaker and trainer in Thomas Miller seminars on both legal and technical issues.
Session 4 : Human Element
Capt. John Dickie, Principal Consultant, JDass and Associates Ltd.
Captain Dickie has spent the last 40 years in the maritime industry. Started as cadet up to Master for more than 20 years on various ship types from oil, chemical and gas including combination carriers, bulk carriers and container ships.
John was manager of the Marine Technical Division for a survey company in the middle east which he helped set up, as well as having been a marine superintendent and operations manager. Five years were spent in an IACS member as head of the ISM Code, which involved being Chairman of the IACS ad hoc Group ISM Code plus, liaison manager to the USCG and CEFIC for ISM Code matters on behalf of IACS.
John has qualifications in auditing to the following standards, ISO 9000, 14000, 18000, SA8000 and ISM Code.
Thanos Theocharis, Regulatory Affairs European Liaison, Marshall Islands Registry
Thanos joined IRI in June 2007. Prior to joining IRI, he worked as a Marine Superintendent of five ships with Louis Cruise Lines. His responsibilities included supervising and providing support and direction to the vessel Masters, revising nautical aspects of Marine Operations, and maintaining documentation in relation to vessel certification, including licensing with Class Societies and flag administrations in matters pertaining to marine operations.
From 2001 to 2004, he worked with Liger Marine Consultants where he provided consultation on matters of cruise ship safety and security. Thanos received his Bachelor of Science Honors in Maritime Studies from Liverpool John Moores University and is currently completing his Master of Science in Maritime Operations at SBE College of Athens in co-operation with Liverpool John Moores University
Marlon Rono, President, Magsaysay Maritime Corporation
Marlon Rono heads the Human Resource Group of the Magsaysay Group of Companies, which employs over 30,000 professionals in shipping, hospitality, offshore, construction, engineering, information technology and healthcare industries. The group is also involved in the training and development of professionals through its training facilities here and abroad.
Marlon is a graduate of Business Management and holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration. He began his professional career as a Human Resource Practitioner in 1976, and was also involved in community development for a long period of time.
He is currently President of Magsaysay Maritime Corporation, Magsaysay Global Services, Inc., Magsaysay Center for Hospitality and Culinary Arts, Magsaysay Learning, and PT Meranti-Magsaysay, Indonesia. He is also Chief Operating Officer of Magsaysay People Resources, Inc. and Magsaysay Institute of Shipping, and Managing Director of Magsaysay Hong Kong, Ltd.
Marlon's dedication to promoting the seafaring profession in the last 3 decades has earned him the respect of his peers, as evidenced by the positions he has occupied in the local maritime industry. He is the immediate past president of FAME (Filipino Association of Mariners Employment) one of the largest maritime employment association in the Philippines, of which he is now a director. He also heads the Philippine Joint Manning Group, which is composed of all stakeholders of the Philippine Maritime and Manning Industries.
Beyond business, Marlon is involved in corporate social responsibility advocacies as the President of Homer Foundation, Magsaysay's CSR arm. He is also Chairman of the Magsaysay Multipurpose Cooperative, one of the largest cooperatives in the Philippine maritime industry.
Session 5: Security and Anti Piracy
Rear Admiral Antonios Papaioannou (HN Rtrd), Past Commander, EUNAVFOR, Diaplous Maritime Services
Rear Admiral (Ret) H.N Antonios Papaioannou joined the Hellenic Naval Academy in 1975, and graduated in 1979, as Ensign. He served for many years in Destroyers and Frigates as well as staff officer and Chief Director in many posts. As Lt Commander he commanded a corvette for two years whereas he served for two years as Commanding Officer of a Frigate and as Captain, he also commanded a frigates squadron.
As a Commodore he was assigned as the First Force Commander of European Union Naval Force (EUNAVFOR), in the first EU Naval operation "Atalanta", in Gulf of Aden / India Ocean back in December 2008. He participated three times (one as commanding officer), in Red sea and Persian Gulf operations.
Furthermore he served in UK as Naval and Defense Attache, as well as in Brussels, in Western Union. He has an antisubmarine qualification (USA), and he is a graduate of NATO Defense College. He resigned in September 2010 and his last assignment as Rear Admiral was Director Chief in Resources and Personnel Directorate in Hellenic MOD.
Panos G Moraitis, Managing Director, Aspida Maritime Security
Panos Moraitis is the Founder and Managing Director of Aspida maritime Security. Aspida is offering a comprehensive range of Maritime Security and Risk Mitigation Solutions to the Maritime Industry Worldwide including Onboard Security Teams, Patrol Boat Escorts, Countermeasures, Security Consultancy and crew training.
Panos completed his management studies and entered the industry approx 10 years ago having successfully worked a couple of key service suppliers prior founding Aspida in 2010 to cover a fast growing need for security services.
George Theodosakis, Faros Marine Services
George completed his law degree in Greece and obtained his LLM from the University of Southampton. He was admitted to the Piraeus Bar in 1998 and is a Member of the Law Society of England and Wales since 2002. George has worked for the shipping departments of Holman Fenwick & Willan and Richards Butler as a practising solicitor before deciding to return to Greece where he co-founded Faros Marine Services. Faros specialise in all aspects of marine insurance broking with a strong accent in claims assistance and handling.
George has seagoing experience, received training from the GARD and has successfully sat the exams of the Hellenic Institute of Insurance Studies.
