Partner, Caland Advocaten

Cherry mainly deals with matters related to contracts in the supply chain: storage, international trade & logistics and cargo claims. Its customers are mainly suppliers and traders in raw materials such as metal and fruit, as well as logistics service providers such as forwarders and storage keepers.

Cherry is a true litigation lawyer, with a keen eye for the trade relationship and litigation strategy. Her goal is to find a quick solution for her customers, while ensuring that the costs and benefits are always in balance. Cherry also has extensive experience in drafting contracts, partly due to her knowledge of litigation.

She has dealt with several cases on the applicability and interpretation of general terms and conditions, in particular with regard to carrier terms and conditions on bills of lading and jurisdiction clauses. But also more typical “wet” cases such as in 2010 the “Oostenwind”, where an important decision was taken on the ownership of yards of ships under construction and in 2017 the decision in “De Jonge Maritime” on pilotage charges.

Cherry started as a lawyer in 2004. She previously worked at other (maritime) law firms such as Boonk Van Leeuwen. After establishing her own office Alius law in 2016, where she became more involved in the supply, maintenance and lease of maritime equipment, she strengthens Caland Advocaten as one of the co-founders as of January 1, 2019.

Group Commercial & Business Development Director, VPS

Steve is the Group Commercial & Business Development Director for VPS, responsible for the development and implementation of global commercial strategy, since joining the company in July 2016,

Graduating from Northumbria University with a BSc (Hons) in Applied Chemistry, Steve worked as an R&D Chemist for BNFL, ICI and Sanofi-Aventis, before joining Anachem Ltd, in a commercial role within laboratory instrumentation in 1997.

Progressing his international commercial career, Steve moved from technical sales to Sales & Marketing Manager, before becoming the General Manager for a1-Envirotech, gaining formal business management qualifications and awards along the way.

Steve joined Lintec Testing Services Ltd, a subsidiary of Intertek, as Operations & Key Accounts Manager in 2007, before becoming General Manager of Lintec in 2011, then Director of Intertek ShipCare in June 2012, a role held until joining VPS.

Global Account Manager, VT Group (Verenigde Tankrederij BV)

Claudia is a chemical engineer by education, but moved into the maritime world by coincidence appr 13 years ago whilst working at Emerson in the Analytical Department.
From that first moment, her love for the maritime industry has only grown, with a particular interest in bunkering and alternative fuels.
She started at Emerson with the business development of mass flow meters for bunkering and fuel consumption, where VT was one of her first customers.
After some years at Ampelmann and Wärtsilä, Claudia is back to where it all started and she is now working for the VT Group as Global Account Manager, looking after existing and new customers worldwide.
Her chemical engineering background and her experience in alternative fuels have given Claudia the perfect background to also drive the developments for bunkering of future fuels within VT. Since April 2023, she has also been elected as a IBIA Board member and participating in a number of workgroups.

Marine Fuels Technical Advisor ExxonMobil Product Solutions – Energy Products

Armelle Breneol is the marine fuels technical advisor for ExxonMobil in Europe. A specialist in product measurement integrity, Ms. Breneol works with vessel operators and business partners to ensure bunker operations are flawless in ports served by ExxonMobil.

Her expertise was key in the development and introduction of Mass Flow Metering System in ARA in 2018.

Ms Breneol worked on the introduction of ExxonMobil Premium HDME 50™, the ECA-category fuel, and EMF.5™ specially designed to help marine operators comply with 2015 ECA 0,10% sulphur cap and 2020 Global 0,50% sulphur cap respectively.

Ms. Breneol has been with ExxonMobil for 24 years. Before joining the business, she was at sea for five years working as an engineer and deck officer, gaining valuable experience on-board ferries, containerships and oceanographic research vessels.

 Ms. Breneol graduated from l’Ecole Nationale de la Marine Marchande (ENMM) in 1991, and earned a Master’s degree in International Transport (University - Panthéon Sorbonne – 1996).

Manager Team Policy, Legislation and Enforcement, Harbor Master's Division, Port of Rotterdam 

Pieter Bruins Slot is the manager of the policy and legislation team for the Division Harbour master of the Port of Rotterdam Authority. He has worked as a manager of a team with lawyers and policy advisors for the last ten years. Before that he worked as a lawyer for the Division Harbour master for five years.

In 2001, he started his career working as a lawyer and policy advisor for the mayor and aldermen of the city of Rotterdam.

Pieter graduated from the Erasmus University Rotterdam with a master’s degree in constitutional and administrative law.

In his work he is pragmatic, solution-oriented and a committed manager.  It gives him energy working together with the team on a port that is – now and in the future – safe and sustainable.

Project Engineer, RINA Marine Consulting

Naval Architect and Marine Engineer by education, she graduated at the Universita’ degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II” with a Master Thesis focusing on methanol and hybrid propulsion systems. She joins RINA Rotterdam in 2021 as plan approval engineer and from 2022 covering the position of Project Engineer in RINA Consulting, where she gains expertise of risk assessment with battery systems and alternative fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia. Currently coordinating several type of projects, she is recently involved as Secretariat support for the IACS Safety and Decarbonization Panel.

Global Head of Bunkering, TFG Marine

Kenneth Dam joined Trafigura’s fuel oil team in 2017 and in May 2019 became Co-Head of its newly formed bunkering team. In 2020, Kenneth was appointed Global Head of Bunkering for TFG Marine, a joint venture created between Trafigura and ship owning companies Frontline and Golden Ocean to supply quality marine fuels to ship owners at global strategic bunkering hubs.

Before joining Trafigura, from 2011 to 2016, Kenneth worked for Monjasa and played a key role in developing its West Africa bunkering operations. Before entering the marine fuel supply and shipping industry, Kenneth was a financial advisor for leading Danish financial services company Nykredit.

TFG Marine is a leading international marine fuel supply and procurement joint venture between physical commodity trading company Trafigura Group Pte and ship owning companies Frontline Ltd and Golden Ocean Group Ltd. Formed in 2020, the company provides modern, simplified and transparent services that bridge every stage of the bunkering process for its customers, supplying over 10 million metric tonnes of marine fuels per annum across 35 strategic bunkering hub locations globally.

Advisor, Harbour Master Affairs, Port of Antwerp-Bruges 

Laurens De Buck, Port Authority Governance Manager is responsible for port regulations and enforcement in the port of Antwerp-Bruges.

Technical Consultant, Lecturer and Author

Nigel Draffin has been involved in shipping for over 50 years and in bunkering for over 25 years. He joined Shell Tankers in 1966, serving on all classes of vessel, including VLCCs and LNG tankers. In 1979, he joined the newbuilding department of Shell International Marine and later transferred to Shell’s R&D unit, specialising in control systems, fuel combustion and safety systems.

In 1986, Nigel moved to the commercial department as a bunker buyer and economics analyst, two years later becoming Head of Operational Economics, responsible for all of the fuel purchased for the Shell fleet. In 1996, he joined E. A. Gibson Shipbrokers which, in 2006, merged with US-based broking house LQM Petroleum Services, where he was Senior Broker and Technical Manager. He retired from LQM in July 2015.

Nigel is a founder member of IBIA, serving several times on its council of management, the board and as its Chairman. Nigel has written 10 books on bunkering, shipping and marine lubes published by Petrospot, and is Director of the Petrospot Academy. Nigel is a member of IMarEST and Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Fuellers.

Senior Credit Manager, Island Oil Holdings (Ltd)

Global maritime executive with focus on marine fuels credit management, compliance and commercial development. Coming from an educational background gained from first class institutions in the UK, France and Greece in  the fields of banking, shipping, finance as well as management at masters levels. Professional history includes financial & markets analysis, credit ratings, risk management, competitive research; always with a view of integrating intelligence gathered with management solutions at commercial level. Focus, always been making a difference in the shipping and energy sectors walking the extra miles between buyer and the vendor

Business Development Director, Ascenz Marorka

With over 30 years of Sales experience, Erwin GUERAND joined Ascenz Marorka’s Sales team in June 2023, as the Head of Business Development.

He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Valenciennes and a DEA in Fluid Mechanics from Ecole Centrale located in Nantes. Erwin GUERAND started his career as an Engineer and then held key roles in Product Development, Project Management and Sales at Faurecia, the 6th largest automotive parts manufacturer in the world. He then moved to the Aeronautics industry as Key Account Director for Esterline Advanced Sensors. Most recently, Erwin GUERAND was CIRCOR France Sales & Marketing Director leading the Sales and Marketing activities, Strategic Planning and Execution to drive sustainable and profitable growth and customer satisfaction.

Ascenz Marorka, a GTT group company, provides cutting-edge digital solutions, for all types of vessels, to improve their performance, reduce their emissions and increase their safety while optimizing their operational cost. Ascenz Marorka’s portfolio comprises solutions for LNG Cargo Management, Electronic Fuel Monitoring, Vessel Performance Management, Emissions Monitoring, Operational and Regulatory Reporting, Weather Routing.

Marine Fuels Consultant, Lloyd’s Register

I joined Fuel Oil Bunker Advisory Service (FOBAS), part of LR marine consulting in 2007 as marine fuel consultant. My present role focussed on FOBAS Operations globally.  Business development,  key account management , conducting training seminars and training courses, raising awareness between our clients for the environmental legislations, providing expertise on the fuel management issues & management of bunker disputes and working closely with clients for technically robust solutions for managing fuels onboard are the key aspects of my present role.

 I also represent Lloyd’s Register FOBAS on different Industry forums such as Energy institute Joint sampling working group and Intertanko Bunkering Sub-committee.

After graduation in marine engineering, I served on board different type of vessels for a substantial period before joining shore based power generation firm managing maintenance work and providing technical support to the operations of land based power plant.

Marine LNG Business Development Manager, Shell

Christian Jones joined Shell’s Marine LNG Business Development team in 2021 with a focus on serving customers in the PCTC/Cruise segment globally. Prior to this role Christian worked within various Operational leadership roles within Shell (2006-2021). Roles included Middle Distillate blender, Freight Ops lead and more recently was tasked with setting up the global Operations Marine LNG team. Prior to Shell, Christian worked for Chevron Products Trading and Corus Steel

Business Development Manager (Marine Fuel Solutions), Emerson Automation Solutions

Daniel Kemp is the business development manager for Emerson Marine solution, specialising in fuel measurement systems in particular bunkering and vessel fuel consumption as well as interests in LNG and alternative fuels. Daniel has worked in the marine industry for the past 8 years, developing close links to the ARA bunker industry during that time.

Quality Manager, Metcore International Pte Ltd

Daryl is the Quality Manager with Metcore International Pte Ltd, a leading bunker mass flow metering system (MFM system) specialist. He has more than two decades of experience in legal metrology, overseeing the Singapore weights and measures programme.  

Daryl specialises in formalising of technical procedures and guidelines. With in-depth experience in the conformity assessment methodology, Daryl has helmed the team to successfully attain the ISO/IEC 17065 accreditation, enabling Metcore to serve as a certification body that provides conformity assessment of MFM system in bunkering application.  In addition, he oversees the team’s conformity assessment and spearheads the company’s various related initiatives. 

Proficient in standards and guidelines, Daryl is the key personnel representing Metcore in local and regional standards development for the oil and gas sectors. He has participated and provided metrology expertise to the local and international Standardisation Technical Committee and Working Group on the development of SS 648 and ISO 22192.  

Maritime Digital Solutions, Vortex Development Group

Jeff brings 30+ years of software experience to the bunker industry and is laser focused on guiding marine fuel delivery paperwork into the digital age. We’ve been working to transform an industry reliant on rubber stamps, inkpads, and pens by ushering in 21st century technology. It was obvious from our humble beginnings in 2015 that handwritten, pen on paper delivery receipts for high-value cargo were destined to be replaced with a digital equivalency; we wanted to be at the forefront of the effort.

Digital Bunker® from Vortex (available on Apple’s App Store and Google Play) delivers accurate and secure Marpol Annex XI compliant Electronic Bunker Delivery Notes (E-BDN’s®) and ISGOTT-compliant E-Ship Safety® (Declaration of Inspection) reports. Designed for fuel and lubricant deliveries made via Ex-pipe, Truck or Barge, the software automates 2004 API Volumetric calculations, with an easy-to-use interface allowing receiving vessel Ship Stamps to be captured photographically and tagged with GPS location data. All stakeholders receive emailed PDFs and back-office data is sent electronically to CRM systems instead of being re-typed.

Like so many other aspects of business today, it’s about speed, legibility, accuracy, record keeping, and sign-on-glass compliance. Digital Bunker checks all those boxes and can also reduce the time-cost of money—the length of time from when a receiving vessel’s Chief Engineer authenticates a document before an invoice can be tendered. Digital Bunker can shorten that time from days or weeks to less than a minute.

Senior Trader / Buyer, Shipergy

I have 13 years experience in marine fuels. In 2010, started the bunkering career in Greece as a physical supply trader. In 2013, moved to London and KPIOC for 8 years. Was one of the first traders that joined Shipergy in May 2022 and deal with the daily bunker requirements, as well as biofuels.

Executive Officer, Marine Fuels Alliance

Anthony became the first Executive Office of the newly formed Marine Fuels Alliance (MFA) in October 2021.

He has over 20 years' experience in the bunkering industry having started in Shell Trading as a buyer for the global fleet. During 10 years in the GAC Group, he was Director of GAC Bunker Fuels, where he developed new credit and risk management processes. Anthony has enjoyed experience across diverse operational roles, including managing GAC UK's Port Agency team before moving in to the Ship To Ship (STS) business as General Manager of Top Fenders Ltd in West Africa.

Prior to the MFA, he assisted with sales and Business Development for Maltese-based bunker supplier International Fuel Suppliers Ltd. Anthony has a commitment to operational excellence and the highest standards of ethics and business practices. This helped form the concept for the MFA with the founding members and is the focus of the new organisation's aims and values.

Executive Director, International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA)

Alexander is the Executive Director of IBIA. Under the direction of IBIA’s Chair and Board he is leading the Secretariat, heading all the activities of the organization and he is responsible for the overall management of the Association.

Alexander was the founder and CEO of PRO Holdings and the architect of the probunkers project. Prior to founding probunkers, he served Mamidakis Brothers Group as a senior executive, leading all of the Group’s Shipping, Bunkering and Aviation activities, through its respective companies: JetOil, JetTank and STYGA Compania Naviera. Mr. Prokopakis has over 25 years of professional experience in leadership positions, over which he has attained deep knowledge and expertise mainly in the industry of shipping and bunkering. He is a Graduate of St. John’s University with an MBA in Executive Management and holds a BSc Degree in Business Management from the State University of New York.

Head of Sales - EMEA, Minerva Bunkering

Partner, Attorney-at-Law, Hafnia Law Firm

Harald Søndergaard is a partner with Hafnia Law Firm in Copenhagen. He was educated at the universities in Aarhus, Denmark and Zurich, Switzerland.

Harald works with all aspects of shipping and trading with a special focus on the bunker industry. He primarily acts for bunker traders whom he advises on regulatory issues, term drafting, contract negotiations, disputes, and collection work.

Managing Editor, EMEA Residual Fuels, S&P Global Commodity Insights

Rowan Staden-Coats joined S&P Global Commodity Insights in early 2020, where she covered the biodiesel and refinery feedstock markets for a short period before covering European diesel benchmarks until early 2023.

Rowan is now Managing Editor of the Europe & Africa Residual Fuels team, covering Fuel Oil & bunker markets, with a keen interest in future marine fuels.

Head of Department – Global Marine Solution Group - Marine Business, Endress+Hauser

Working for 22 years in various Positions at Endress+Hauser

• Starting as an Internal sales in the Branch Office in Hamburg (Germany) – 5 years -
• Global Project Sales / execution manager for Marine solution and instrumentation Projects - 6 years
  • Develop solutions on a global base for the Marine / Offshore Industry
• Head of Support Center Marine & Offshore
  • Build up and establish the Marine Industry in the
    E+H group – 10 years -
• Head of Global Marine Solution Group + Business Development Manager for Marine applications
• Involved in the Marine Bunker Industry since 2009
• Member of several Technical and strategic groups
  (e.g. STG (Schiffbau Technische Gesellschaft) IMO, …)

Manager, Bunker Quality and Claims, Integr8 Fuels Inc

Chris Turner is the Bunker Quality and Claims Manager at Integr8 Fuels and is based in Singapore. Chris has close to 30 years of experience, with 20 years in laboratory and inspection and the last 10 in Bunkers. Chris also sits on the International Bunker Industry Association’s (IBIA) Global Technical working group.

Sales & Trading Manager, Neste Oil Corporation

Sveta is driven by the purpose of creating cleaner, more sustainable solutions for the shipping community in the 4th most sustainable company in the world. She believes that delivering excellent customer experience is a foundation for company success.

Sveta has worked at Neste since 2012. While being responsible for Neste’s strategic accounts, she was driving growth and deployment of commercial initiatives, such as Neste MY renewable diesel launch in Finland. Today, Neste MY is widely used by Neste’s customers globally. 

Before joining Neste, she has worked in M&A and sales positions in global pharmaceutical distribution (Tamro Corporation) and steel companies (ArcelorMittal).

Managing Director, Iver Ships B.V.

Leon studied to become Maritime Officer in Vlissingen, The Netherlands followed by a study Maritime Science at the University of Antwerp.

He sailed on product/chemical tankers for Vroon as deck officer before joining the Operations team in 2007. He became Operations Manager for the Vroon tanker fleet (Iver Ships) in 2012. As from 2016 he moved on as Head Operations for the Vroon Group of Companies and became responsible for all operational processes within the Vroon Group for their 200 vessels at the time.

As from 2018, Leon started as Director Shared Resources at Vroon and in that capacity leading a team responsible for amongst others the implementation of new rules and regulations, innovation as well as responsible for groupwide business processes. As from September 2021 Leon is Managing Director of Iver Ships.

He is a passionate ship photographer and maintains his own website: Duivendijk.net.

Bunker Procurement Manager, Wagenborg Shipping

During Sebastiaan's time as a student he was already working in shipping, where I was locally helping out stevedoring department at Wagenborg Shipping. After graduation in Aberdeen, decided to continue in exciting world of shipping.

Already active over 17 years in Shipping.

Professional career started in 2006 at Wagenborg Shipping.

Worked from 2006-2008 as an Ship’s agent.

Thereafter went to Chartering department where worked as a Chartering Operator from 2008-2015; operating vessels worldwide.

During my time as an operator started to focus more on bunkering, fuel consumption and created set-up a bunker department. Since 2019 switched from operations to 100% bunkering, and became fully responsible for bunker procurement. In 2020 got an official role as Bunker Procurement Manager at Wagenborg Shipping, taking care for the department which covers fuel procurement over 160 vessels.

Global Technical Manager, Intertek Lintec 

Tracy began her working life as a Research Chemist with ICI on Teesside.

Having held a number of research and development positions, Tracy joined the Oilfield Chemicals Division of ICI, where she spent 13 years, working closely with customers, solving technical issues through the development of new products.

In 2011 Tracy joined Lintec Testing Services, now Intertek Lintec, as Operations & Key Account Manager, moving into a commercial role in 2014 to target growth in the European region as Business Development Manager. Since December 2019, just in time for IMO 2020, Tracy has held the position of Global Technical Manager for Intertek Lintec.

Managing Director, Shipping Strategy Ltd

Mark Williams is founder and Managing Director of Shipping Strategy Ltd, a management consultancy based in the UK providing data-driven actionable insights on maritime and energy industries to clients including governments and regulators, ship owners, investors and charterers, trading houses and other actors in and around the shipping industry. Mark is also Contributing Editor of Ship.Energy, the leading free-to-view website covering shipping’s path to zero carbon, and presenter of the popular ship.energy podcast. He is a Course Director at Lloyd’s Maritime Academy where he teaches four shipping related courses. Mark has 27 years’ experience in ship finance, broking and consultancy with companies like Informa, HSBC and Braemar Shipping Services. He is a Member of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers.

Senior Consultant, DNV 

Since joining DNV in 2009, Martin has held various roles within the fields of decarbonization and digitalization in shipping. Martin is currently Product Manager for DNV’s FuelBoss platform, and fully dedicated to establishing a common industry platform for digital bunker deliveries, across all marine fuels. Since 2015 Martin have held positions as Product Manager and lead the development and running of several successful digital services within the alternative fuels space in DNV. Martin was the original Product Manager for DNV’s Alternative Fuels Insight (AFI) platform, the industry go-to-place for status of the adoption of alternative fuels and technologies. Martin has more than a decade of experience on the topic of alternative marine fuels and cost-efficient compliance strategies for existing and future environmental regulations. Martin has an in-depth understanding of bunkering processes in general, and the entire spectrum of alternative fuels.