Gijsbert will be the chairman of The international Bunker Conference also in 2023 and guide us through a 2 day program with interesting presentations, discussions, questions and answers summarizing the 2020 implementation and guiding the way towards future events and concerns affecting the industry.
Gijsbert de Jong is Marine Chief Executive, Nordics, at Bureau Veritas. Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, his main responsibilities are to drive profit and loss accountability in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Iceland, Norway & Sweden), develop strategic business activities and drive operational excellence, quality and client satisfaction.
Gijsbert joined Bureau Veritas in 2001 after obtaining an MSc degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands, and has since held various technical and business development management positions in Paris, Rotterdam and Shanghai, covering both marine and offshore activities. In his previous role he was the director of the marine marketing and sales team based in the classification society’s head office in Paris, France.
With a strong focus on safety, environmental sustainability and technology innovation, Gijsbert is continuously striving to develop best in class services to enhance Bureau Veritas’ offering to the maritime market. He is a strong supporter of cross-industry collaboration as a cornerstone for resolving the shipping’s energy transition and digitalization challenges. He is a regular speaker and moderator at maritime conferences and frequent contributor to industry magazines. Gijsbert has published on container ships, bulk carriers, offshore service vessels, tugs, dredgers, ice classed vessels, as well as alternative fuels and power systems
Eirik Nyhus holds the position of Director, Environment in DNV Maritime. His key responsibilities include following and engaging in the development of maritime environmental policies and regulations at international, regional and country level. Sharing gained insight with customers is an integral part of these responsibilities. His background includes activities within marine classification and consulting, field work both offshore and as a maritime CAP-surveyor, and a five-year period at DNV Research & Innovation specializing in maritime energy efficiency and air emission issues. He supports the Norwegian government as an advisor to its IMO MEPC delegations and is the DNV member in the IACS Environmental Panel. He also represents DNV in the European Commission’s European Sustainable Shipping Forum. Eirik Nyhus graduated from the Norwegian Technical University in 1991 and holds an MSc in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.
Maria Skipper Schwenn joined Bunker Holding as Director of Environmental Regulatory and Public Affairs in 2023. Her primary tasks include securing Bunker Holding staying ahead of the curve in the transition to a low-carbon maritime industry. Before joining Bunker Holding Maria worked as Executive Director, Climate, Environment and Security at Danish Shipping for 13 years. She has been deeply involved in shaping the EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime regulations, served as advisor to the Danish IMO delegation and was a member of ICS Marine Committee and ECSA Safety and Environment Committee. In her current position, Maria has joined the Future Fuels Working Group of IBIA and is running for election to the board of IBIA. Moreover, Maria chairs the EWABA Maritime Task Force. She is member of the Advisory board to ReFlow – environmental performance made easy and the board of Danfoss IXA, producer of marine emission monitoring systems.
Maria holds a master’s degree in Political Science from University of Southern Denmark as well as a master’s degree in European Politics and Administration from the College of Europe, Belgium.
Angel Alvarez Alberdi is the Secretary General of EWABA since its creation in 2013. EWABA is a Brussels-based trade association promoting the interests of the waste-based and advanced biofuels industry. Angel has been working in EU government and institutional affairs in Brussels for over 15 years, with a particular focus on biofuels, transport, infrastructure and EU institutional and legislative matters. He started his career with a stint at the European Commission’s Secretariat General, to then work for an international public affairs consultancy, the European Biodiesel Board, and a global law firm. A lawyer by training, Angel holds an M.A. in European Interdisciplinary Studies with a major in EU Governance from the College of Europe.”
Andreas Nektheden Johansen is is the Key Account Manager at ST1 Marine Norway. Andreas is a graduate in Maritime Business from Southampton Solent University in 2009.
His career has comprised a variety of commercial roles including ship operations, shipbroking, fuel quality testing and, primarily, bunker trading.
In 2021 he joined the Norwegian physical fuel supplier St1 Norway, where he handles offshore supply desk and is the marine representative for new fuels. His focus is the Norwegian market.
Jan Christensen is the Senior director of Global Fuel Purchasing at Hapag -Lloyd.
Jan started his career in bunkering and shipping in 1997 with Maersk in Copenhagen.
Before joining Hapag-Lloyd in Hamburg as Senior Director of Global Fuel Purchasing in the summer of 2019, Jan held management positions with Bomin, OW Bunker and Maersk Oil Trading in Denmark and Germany.
Jan has worked in all parts of the bunkering supply chain (sourcing, risk management, sales, purchasing) and has a unique insight on both sides of the negotiation table.
Timothy Wilson CEng CMarEng MIMarEST,
Principal Specialist Fuels, Lloyd’s Register FOBAS
Timothy’s marine engineering began with 20 years at sea on a variety of ship types and since 1995 has worked for Lloyd’s Register as a consultant on marine fuels and exhaust emissions with specific emphasis on the changes being brought on the marine industry through the implementation of the MARPOL Annex VI Regulations.
Timothy is a member of the CIMAC Fuels WG7 and the ISO TC 28/SC 4/WG 6 where he has actively contributed to the development of the 2010/12 and latest publication of the 2017 ISO 8217 marine fuel standard. The focus is now on the implementation of the 2020 outside ECA-SOx limit of 0.50%. From 2013 he has actively been involved in the European Shipping Sustainability Forum (ESSF) sub group for the Implementation of the European Sulphur Directive Implementation Decision and more recently selected to be the rapporteur for the ESSF SG for Air Emission from Ships.
His consultancy work covers all matters related to effective on board fuel management from the bunker manifold to the exhaust stack evaluating the best approaches to optimizing fuel efficiency and assessing alternative compliance options to exhaust emission environmental legislation.
Norbert Schmitz, Managing Director ISCC System GmbH
Norbert Schmitz has studied business administration at the University of Cologne in Germany where he also acquired his PhD. Norbert initiated the development of ISCC, International Sustainability and Carbon Certification, and is since 2010 Managing Director. ISCC is a globally applicable sustainability certification system and covers all sustainable feedstocks, including agricultural and forestry biomass, biogenic wastes and residues, circular materials and renewables. With currently over 10,000 valid certificates in more than 130 countries, ISCC is among the world’s largest certification systems. It has been developed through an open multi-stakeholder process and is governed by an association with more than 260 members, including research institutes and NGOs.
Ragnhild Skagestad is a Senior Researcher with SINTEF and in charge of the Norwegian part of the ACT project EverLoNG which focuses on ship based carbon capture. Ragnhild holds a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from 2004, and since 2006 she has worked in Tel-Tek and SINTEF with sustainable development, CO2 capture and transport and early phase cost estimation. The objective of the EverLoNG project is to accelerate the implementation of ship based carbon capture, by demonstration the technology on board LNG fueled ships. The project is led by TNO and started up in 2021 and is planned finalized in 2025.
Guus Van Der Bles is a Director of Development at
Conoship International BV. He graduated in 1986 as a
Master of Science at ‘Delft University of Technology’, as a Naval Architect. He gained more than 30 years of experience in the maritime industry, managing an engineering and maritime consulting office and a steel prefabrication plant in the
Netherlands. In 2005 he joined Conoship International BV, the Innovative Design Office for Short Sea Shipping; first as leading Naval Architect and since 2007 as Director. The drive to ‘Improve
Ship design by customized innovation’, is reflected in his important role in R&D projects and innovative designs, focusing on fuel and emission reduction, by wind and CO2-capturing on LNG driven ships. He worked as Ass. Professor at Delft University of Technology for 1 day/week from 2003 to 2015, were he investigated several methods of Wind Assisted Ship Propulsion. Since 2018 he is active in investigating, together with research institute TNO Delft, the application of Carbon Capture on board of LNG-fueled vessels, next to R&D on application of bio-methanol, hydrogen and ammonia for future green shipping.
Ricardo Batista
Naval Architect and Marine Engineer, working in sustainable energy systems for ships. Currently working at European Commission, Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport – Maritime
Transport unit. In the Commission, Ricardo is engaged in the development, negotiation and preparatory work for implementation of the FuelEU Maritime regulation, under the Fit for 55 package.
Before joining the European Commission, Ricardo worked in the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), responsible for technical and scientific support to the Commission on several topics of Ship Safety and Sustainability, with a focus on energy systems. In addition to the above, Ricardo has Classification Society, as well as previous experience as a
Marine Engineer onboard naval ships and Naval Architect involved with newbuild and retrofit works.
Charlotte Røjgaard
is the VeriFuel Global Business Director at Bureau Veritas.
Charlotte has a Master of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark and an executive MBA in
Shipping and Logistics from Copenhagen Business School. Having spent 15 successful years with MAN Energy Solutions where she began her career, she moved to Singapore to enhance the technical capabilities at DNVPS eventually rising to Technical Director.
Joining Bureau Veritas’ VeriFuel team in 2015 as Global
Technical Manager, she has been instrumental in strengthening the company’s expertise in marine fuels whilst successfully launching VeriFuel as a well recognized global brand.
Charlotte represents Bureau Veritas’ VeriFuel at conferences and sits on numerous key industry committees, including ISO 8217 (products from Petroleum, synthetic and renewables sources) and ISO 6583 (methanol) while also using her expert knowledge and experience advising international working groups and authorities on industry trends such as endemic fuel cases
Catherine Caulfield is the Business Development Manager – Global Marine Fuels, Argus Media.
Catherine is responsible for coordinating the global business development strategy for Argus’ marine fuels product suite. In this capacity, Catherine engages with market participants to define and launch pricing solutions for emerging alternative marine fuels markets.
Argus’ conventional and alternative marine fuel spot prices are used to facilitate decision making, risk management and are used in contracts. Catherine holds an MSc in Petroleum Geoscience from the University of Aberdeen and a BA in Natural Sciences from Trinity College Dublin
Alexander Prokopakis 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, CEO and the architect of probunkers. 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.
Capt. Samir Fernandez is the director of Marine Fuel Solutions with Cepsa.
He is a Master Mariner with over 20 years’ experience in the maritime industry both at sea and ashore leading global teams specialising in the management of cargo operations, bunker sales and procurement, marine fuel blending and quality claims as well as fuel efficiency and sustainability for commercial shipping.
Capt. Fernandez describes himself as a budding "geek" dabbling in the development of bespoke software solutions to improve commercial and operational efficiency within the shipping industry. He contributes to the industry by actively engaging in shipping committee's as the vice chairman of the Singapore Shipping Association's marine fuel committee and chairman of the mass flow meter sub committee.
He has also been a working group member for the Singapore Standards committee's on quality management for bunkering standards and the initiative to digitalise bunkering in Singapore.
Sigrid Bakken serves as the ESG and Communications Director at G2 Ocean, a prominent ship operator specializing in the open hatch segment. She joined the company in 2019 as Communications Manager and was promoted to ESG and Communications Director in February 2023. Sigrid possesses a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities associated with sustainable business practices. She is responsible for leading G2 Ocean's sustainability program and has a proven track record of successfully implementing strategies and roadmaps to navigate the complex landscape of sustainability. Sigrid holds a bachelor's degree in economics and business administration from the Norwegian School of Economics and a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Bergen.
Per Erik Olsen is Executive Vice President in Color Line and CEO of Color Line Marine, which is Color Line’s maritime operations company. Per Erik Olsen’s responsibilities include general technical and maritime operations of Color Line’s fleet, ensuring that all ships are operated in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations and Color Line’s safety and environmental policy. Per Erik Olsen has more than 30 years’ experience from a range of key positions in leading Norwegian-based shipping companies, including Tschudi & Eitzen, Torvald Klaveness and Hurtigruten and holds degrees both in nautical engineering and shipping finance.
Dr. Bartosz Rozmyslowicz, Is Senior Expert Fuel & Lubricants, WinGD and the Chairman of CIMAC Working Group 7 Fuels.
Bartosz made his doctoral studies at the Abo Akademi in Finland and his postdoctoral work at EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) in Switzerland, where he worked on catalytic biomass conversion processes for the production of renewable fuels. At WinGD Bartosz is responsible for the development of fuel and lubricant specifications, and management of fuel related projects for traditional and alternative fuels.
Since 2018 Bartosz is a member of CIMAC WG 7 Fuels, and since 2022, he is the chairman of the group. He is also a member of the marine fuel standardization committees which develops the standards ISO 8217 (marine fuels from petroleum and renewable sources), ISO 6583 (methanol as marine fuel) and ISO 23306 (LNG as marine fuel).
