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.

CEO and Managing Director, UAE Region and Jafza
DP World

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.

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.

Before joining Abu Dhabi Ports, he was Marine Operations Manager with the National Gas Shipping Company, an ADNOC Group company, having joined from Gulf Energy Maritime, where he was a Senior Marine Superintendent. For the eight years prior, he rose through the ranks from Third Officer to Master/Chief Officer with NGSCO, on-board the company’s LNG/oil tankers.

Other professional accomplishments include being recognized as ‘Outstanding VP/ EVP’ at the Abu Dhabi Awards of Excellence in 2017, and as the winner of the ‘Maritime Standard Excellence Award’ in 2018.

He graduated from South Tyneside College, UK as a Master Mariner and also holds an Executive Masters in Business Administration, Business Administration and Management.

Global Director of Special Projects and Services
DNV

Ali Shehab is the DNV Global Director of Special Projects and Services where his role to streamline the regional and global ongoing projects and services, as well as development of market share and strengthen the position of DNV in the Maritime and Oil & Gas Industries. Before assuming this position in July 2021, he was the former Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC), the Maritime Transportation arm of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), after having serving there for almost 36 years in various positions of the Company, including 7+ years as Deputy Chief Executive Officer Fleet Operations where he oversaw KOTC’s Oil Tanker Fleet Operations, Marine Agency, and the main Gas Filling Branches that supply domestic and industrial LPG to the whole of State of Kuwait.

He is a marine engineer professional educated in the South Tyneside College north of England in the United Kingdom, trained and worked on KOTC vessels as a seagoing Marine Chief Engineer from 1985 to 2001, after which he operated fleet vessels in the capacity of Technical Superintendent and further developed in his carrier to General Superintendent and later assumed various managerial positions for Fleet New-building Group, as well as, Fleet Personal Group of the Fleet Operations Directorate, including 3 years as Site Manager at Hyundai Heavy Industries Ulsan Korea in 2005 to 2007, overseeing the construction of the fleet new tankers. His mid-level management development was from 2005 to 2013 during which he was involved and managing the company crucial tanker fleet development for 26
tankers of different types and sizes, built to the latest industry requirements, digitally ready and designed eco-friendly.

In July 2013 he was placed in the higher management position in the capacity of Deputy Chief Operating Officer for Fleet Operations and then in addition to this role, he assumed the position of Acting Chief Operating Officer in June 2018 till he reached by his retirement time with KOTC in Feb 2021 completing almost 36 years of service. During his senior position role with KOTC, he focused on the development of KOTC position in the Maritime and Oil & Gas Industries, and primarily for KOTC to continue being a leader in the safe transportation of hydrocarbons by sea, in addition, he focused on the development of KOTC employees both on ships and onshore.

He is an active individual who has been involved in various executive roles and positions primarily in the maritime industry, nonetheless, he also actively involved in the oil and gas industry where he assists individuals and organizations to excel in their business and provide them with opportunities of collaboration and growth.

CEO
ASYAD Shipping and Drydock Services

Dr. Ibrahim Al Nadhairi has undergone extensive executive training at INSEAD and is a UK qualified chief engineer with MBA and Ph.D. in Shipping and Logistics. Over 20 years of experience in leadership, business development, performance improvement, and change management.

Assigned as CEO of Oman Shipping Company and Oman Drydock Company working with the new management in alignment with the ASYAD Group’s strategy to offer integrated and highly efficient shipping services in a comprehensive marine offering that meetsthe Group’s aspirations of providing global markets with end-to-end logistics solutions.

President
Bahri Ship Management

Eng. Abdulaziz Abdulrahman Sabri is President of Bahri Ship Management, one of six business units within Bahri, a global leader in transportation and logistics.

Abdulaziz oversees all aspects of the Company’s business operations including safety and quality and is responsible for providing overall direction for the operation and maintenance of all vessels in the fleet. He also assumes responsibility for ensuring that the vessels are always operated and maintained in accordance with company procedures and relevant international rules and regulations.

Bringing nearly three decades of experience in the shipping, logistics, and energy industries, Sabri’s leadership and strategic foresight have been instrumental in catapulting Bahri Ship Management into one of the world’s leading providers of technical and commercial ship management services for VLCCs, chemical tankers, dry bulk and RoCon vessels. The company today manages a fleet of 89 vessels.

A Saudi national, Abdulaziz started his career in 1989 as a Maintenance Engineer at Saudi Aramco. In 1996, he moved to Vela International Marine Limited, the shipping arm of Saudi Aramco, where he spent the next 18 years serving in a variety of roles including Site Manager at the Company’s site office in South Korea shipyard and later, Fleet Operations Manager. He joined Bahri as Vice President – Technical Services in January 2015 before being assigned the role of Vice President of Ship Management in February 2016. He has been in his current role as President since April 2018.

Abdulaziz holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

Acting CEO - Maritime Cluster and Safeen Group
AD Ports Group

CEO
Tristar Maritime

Chris Peters Joined Tristar Maritime in May 2009 and took over as CEO in March 2017, having previously been the CFO. Chris joined Tristar Maritime 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.​

CEO
Tomini Group

Numair, a fourth generation member of the Shaikh family began his maritime career early, spending summer apprenticeships with the Group, gaining exposure to commercial and technical ship management.

In 2016, Numair joined Tomini Shipping as Head of Shipping and spearheaded Tomini’s evolution from a fleet of 7 to a modern and diversified 16 vessel fleet before becoming the CEO of Tomini Group in 2021.

He is now leading the Group’s transformation from a shipping company to a diverse multinational and multicultural business group.

Numair, together with his wife Marium established Tomini’s Corporate Giving Program; reflecting their values that Tomini should be a force of positive action in the community. The Program invests in education supporting its power to address social inequalities and lift generations out of poverty.

Vice President - Business Development
International Maritime Industries

Julian Panter has spent the past 15 years in the Middle East. Initially working for Lamprell Energy Limited (LEL) as their Group Head of HR & Administration, before moving to work with Saudi Aramco in 2016, when LEL were engaged as a 20% shareholder in International Maritime Industries (IMI). IMI is a joint venture between Bahri (19.9%), HHI (20%), Lamprell (20%) and Saudi Aramco (40.1%). IMI will be the largest maritime yard in the MENA region which will provide new build and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services for commercial vessels including VLCC’s, Bulk Carriers, and Offshore Jack up rigs. Panter has been involved with the development of IMI from its inception and now plays a number of strategic roles. He is the Vice President of Business Development, and he is also an Executive Committee Member. Alongside this, IMI recently signed a joint venture with Zamil Shipyards, called National Shipbuilding Industries Company (NSIC). NSIC will specialize in the building and maintenance of Offshore Support Vessel’s (OSV’s). Panter is a Member on the Board of Directors in this newly formed joint venture. He holds a master’s degree (MA) and Human Resource Management; from Middlesex University, is a Chartered Members of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (MCIPD) and is due to finish his master’s in business administration (MBA) in November of 2022 with Manchester Business School.

Chair
Maritime UK's Women's Taskforce

Sue Terpilowski is the Chair of Maritime UK’s Women’s Task Group driving forward real change in diversity within the sectors and also President of WISTA UK (Women in Shipping and Trade). WISTA UK’s purpose is to help promote networking, provide educational activities and events and the exchange of experiences among women who are working in the sectors of shipping, maritime and international trade.

Sue is also Chairman of the Ports, Maritime and Waterways within CILT, the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), and is their new Policy Chair.  She regularly chairs sessions and acts as a facilitator for CILT on sector related issues including SOLAS, CTU Code, M2M/Autonomous/Automation, portcentric and port trends and is a regular speaker and facilitator at maritime and logistics conferences and seminars around the world.

As a member of Women in Logistics and Women in Transport groups, Sue is also a member of the steering committee of the London Freight Forum (TfL group) and is one of the forum chairs and advisor on associated freight matters, bringing together TfL and the freight sector.

London policy chairman for the FSB (Federation of Small Businesses), Sue is regularly interviewed and quoted in the business press radio and television as an expert source on a wide range of issues affecting the self-employed, micro and small businesses. She also appeared on BBC television in the final of the Apprentice 2015 as part of the interview panel making the choices of winning contestants.