CEO,
Kuwait Oil Tanker Company

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.

CEO,
Oman Shipping Company & Oman Dry Dock Company

Said Al Maawali is the CEO of Oman Shipping Company (offering world-class, reliable and efficient shipping solutions) and Oman Dry Dock Company (a major yard in the world and an integral part of the Omani government diversification program).

Prior to that Said led the Oman Tank Terminal Company the first large scale crude oil commercial terminal in Oman. Said has also worked is PDO, OXY, Sohar Aluminum and Oman Oil.

Said has also served in several boards as a director including Sohar Aluminum, Vale Oman, Oman India Fertilizer Company, Oman Aluminum Rolling Company Sohar Industrial Port. Said has extensive experience in the Oil and Gas, Metals, Manufacturing, and investment industries

Said has received an Engineering Degree from the Imperial College.

DG of The Federal Transport Authority Land and Maritime (FTA)

With his Engineering back ground and diversified experiences due to long serving in different government positions and active participation in areas such as urban planning, city management, development programming, development control, municipal services, municipal codes and regulations and project management. Some of his outstanding achievements are establishing an advanced digital mapping and GIS in Al Ain, Al Ain Master Planning 2000 and 2015, Al Ain Computerized Data Management System, as well as Abu Dhabi International Building Codes, and Abu Dhabi Real Estate Regulations.

To mention some of the key positions, he worked as DG of Al Ain Town Planning, Undersecretary of Al AIn Municipality, Undersecretary of AbuDhabi Department of Municipal Affairs and Chairman of Abu Dhabi General Service Company (Musanada).

Editor,
The Maritime Standard

A well-respected freelance journalist Clive Woodbridge has been writing about shipping, ports and logistics related issues since 1982.

For more than 30 years he has contributed to some of the leading publications in the industry, including Lloyds List, Seatrade, Cargo Systems, Container Management and Containerisation International, and has particular expertise in the shipping and maritime sectors in the Middle East.

Managing Director,

Dhruv Kotak is the Managing Director of the J M BAXI GROUP of companies – a diversified business group involved in shipping & logistics. The Group has 104 years of Maritime experience and has, over the years, grown to be a truly global player with its customers spread across 55 countries, and offices in over 63 cities across India and the world.

Dhruv is a fourth-generation entrepreneur, he joined the business when he was 15, and has worked his way up. A quick learner with an astute business sense, Dhruv has been pivotal in ensuring that the J M BAXI GROUP stays ahead of its peers and is an innovator in the Maritime and logistics market. He has been instrumental in making J M BAXI GROUP a truly global organisation as also an acknowledged “Thought- Leader” in the Indian Maritime domain.

Vice Chairman,
Emirates Maritime Arbitration Center

Executive Partner at law firm Hadef & Partners, Richard Briggs is a recognised leader in commercial dispute resolution in the UAE and has practised contentious business law in the UAE for most of his career. His areas of specialisation are in the litigation and arbitration fields, particularly with reference to maritime, trade and insurance law in the United Arab Emirates and the Middle East area.

Prior to working at Hadef, Mr Briggs trained with Clifford Chance in London and Dubai, later joining another UAE law firm as a partner. He graduated from the University of Warwick (LLB) and the College of Law, Guildford (United Kingdom). He is a member of the Law Society and a Practicing Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales. He is also a member of the International Bar Association and World Jurist Association. Richard is the ICC FraudNet member for the UAE, Middle East Regional Coordinator for the Inter-Pacific Bar Association and former Vice Chair of the IBA Maritime Committee.

Chief Commercial Officer
UAE Region

Abdulla Bin Damithan has been with DP World since 2001. He was appointed as Chief Commercial Officer for DP World – UAE Region in 2017. Abdulla is responsible for all revenue generation activities, products and services offered across the portfolio including Ports & Terminals, Parks & Zones and Trade Enablement solutions.

Abdulla is a recognised leader in the maritime & logistics landscape within the Middle East with commercial success across the maritime & logistics industries. His focus on innovation and customer centricity have been the core of his commercial strategy. Abdulla sits on the Board of a number of DP World Ports & Terminals globally and also is an independent director in logistics ventures.

A proud Emirati national, Abdulla has a Bachelors in Business from the United States and a Graduate Diploma in Maritime & Port Management from the National University of Singapore. He has also completed the Dubai Leaders Program and leadership courses at the London Business School.

Secretary General & CEO
BIMCO

Angus Frew has served as Secretary General & CEO of BIMCO since 2013. BIMCO is the world’s largest international shipping association established in 1905 with 1,900 members in over 120 countries.

Angus was a non-executive director of Global Ship Lease Inc, a containership owning company publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. He was appointed in 2008 and resigned in 2018 on the completion of its merger with Poseidon Containers.

Angus served as the CEO of the UK Chamber of Shipping from 2009 to 2013. The UK Chamber was established in 1878 and is the trade association for the UK shipping industry working with Government and international organisations to champion and protect the industry on behalf of its members. He designed and delivered a strategy that stabilised the finances and rejuvenated the association.

Angus served from 2003 to 2008 as President & CEO of GE SeaCo, a joint venture between General Electric and Sea Containers Ltd, and a leading international lessor of marine containers to shipping lines. Angus was the chairman of the Institute of International Container Lessors in 2004.

Prior to joining GE SeaCo in 2002, Angus held senior management positions in the international wine and spirits industry including six years in Tokyo, Japan and two years in Prague, Czech Republic.

Angus is a chemistry graduate of the University of Durham and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1983.

MD & CEO,
Essar Ports Ltd.

Mr. Rajiv Agarwal is the CEO and Managing Director of Essar Ports Ltd, which is one of the largest private sector port companies in India by capacity and throughput. Mr. Agarwal is a Chartered Accountant with over 30 years of experience and has held various leadership positions in industries like Ports, Shipping, Telecom, Retail and Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO).

He became MD and CEO of Essar Shipping, Ports & Logistics Limited in 2010 and under him the Ports Business of Essar has grown manifold increasing Port Capacity in India alone from 46 MMTPA in FY10 to 100 MMTPA as on date with plans to increase to 110 MMTPA in 2019. Essar Ports has India’s trophy infrastructure asset providing all the characteristics of a large, long-term, stable and dominant infrastructure business. Diversifying customer profile is key centric to expansion strategy of Essar Ports with enhanced volumes of third party cargo. Under his leadership the third party cargo share is expected to increase from negligible to more than ~35% in short term. Company has expanded across strategic locations on both east & west coast of India contributing to the growth of the sector through state of the art mechanized facilities. Recently under his astute leadership the company also saw successful divestment of the Vadinar Oil Terminal (58 MMTPA capacity).

Area Manager, Middle East & Africa
DNV GL Maritime

Ian Edwards is a naval architect with an international career in the maritime and offshore industry spanning more than 20 years.

Ian holds a Master of Engineering in Ship Science from the University of Southampton and spent the first 10 years of his career working for ship owners in Norway and the Middle East, covering both operations and newbuildings.

He joined DNV GL in Norway in 2006 where he worked within plan approval for ship and offshore structures. Prior to moving to Dubai to take on his current role, Ian spent 7 years in South Korea leading DNV GL’s plan approval unit.

Chief – Commercial and Strategy Officer,
Abu Dhabi Ports

Ross joined Abu Dhabi Ports in 2016 as Vice President of Commercial and Business Development in the company’s Ports Unit. In that role, Ross was responsible for the Sales, Business Development and Customer Service departments. In January 2017 Ross was appointed Acting Chief Commercial and Strategy Officer, responsible for the functions of Corporate Commercial and Strategy, Quality and Excellence, as well as Business Process and Business Intelligence.

Over the past 16 years, Ross has been specialising in leading and managing sales revenue, commercial process and commercial strategy across multiple sites and market sectors having worked for leading international companies in the industry such as the Peel Ports Group and American President Lines (APL).

Senior Managing Director,
Middle East, ISC and Africa, Hapag Lloyd

Dheeraj Bhatia is the current Senior Managing Director, Region Middle East for Hapag Lloyd
Middle East based in Dubai.

Prior to this Dheeraj assumed the position of Managing Director Area ISC in June 2015 after the merger of Hapag-Lloyd and CSAV. Previously,
he held various management positions at CSAV. After joining CSAV in 2003, Dheeraj held senior positions in Asia Regional Operations until 2007, when he was appointed as the Line Manager for the Asia-Europe Trades. In 2008, he was nominated as the President of the India Agency for CSAV Group and Norasia Container Lines. In 2011, he became the Senior Vice President ISC – Middle East Region. In 2013, Dheeraj moved to the United States and continued his career in New York as President Region North America, Central America and Caribbean Islands.

Dheeraj’s entrepreneurial traits have led him to initiate and execute changes in the business strategy to achieve profitability, improve customer perception and cost efficiency.

Dheeraj is a Master Mariner by profession and a trained Pilot. He has a 12-year sailing and piloting career before he came ashore in 2003. He also holds various Chairman and Directorships at various Hapag Lloyd entities.

Chairperson and Managing Director

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.

CEO
ADNOC Logistics & Services

Capt. Abdulkareem Al Masabi has been leading ADNOC Logistics & Services since 2018, where he has been spearheading its transformation and growth. The company was formed in 2017, from the consolidation of three ADNOC subsidiaries.

Capt. Abdulkareem has extensive experience in leadership roles within the maritime industry. Previously he held the position of Executive Vice President, Ports Unit at Abu Dhabi Ports, with responsibility for the day-to-day operational activities across all of Abu Dhabi Ports’ facilities. And prior to this he was Vice President at Khalifa Port, with the port being named Port of the Year in 2014 and 2015 during his tenure, which first began with Abu Dhabi Ports in 2009, when he joined as Senior Operations Manager.