21 October - 23 October
Hilton Rotterdam Hotel
ARACON 26 will once again bring together senior executives, technical experts, policymakers and innovators to discuss the ‘state of play’ for the global marine fuels sector – and with a close focus on the challenges and issues impacting the world second largest bunker market, the (Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp) region.
Aracon26 Programme
Programme details are updated regularly and are subject to change as new speakers are confirmed and themes developed.
If you feel you could make a significant contribution to the programme, please email Lesley Bankes-Hughes at [email protected] or call +44 1295 814455 to discuss this further.
(Premium members: log in to unlock your 10% discount on the standard price to £1,255.50)
Welcome Coffee
ARACON 26 will once again bring together senior executives, technical experts, policymakers and innovators to discuss the ‘state of play’ for the global marine fuels sector – and with a close focus on the challenges and issues impacting the world second largest bunker market, the (Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp) region.
2025 was a tough year for the bunker sector but 2026 has already brought a new set of complicated problems to the table. As always, ARACON will provide sharp insights on regulation, fuel quality, technology, AI and commercial practices, and this year it will ask if the industry needs to undertake a ‘root and branch’ evaluation of its business model and structures in order to adapt to a world where geopolitical, energy supply and trade uncertainties are increasingly the norm – and energy transition pathways are perhaps becoming more difficult to follow.
With a conference programme featuring industry leaders and experts in the marine fuels sector, ARACON will seek to provide a focused and useful SWOT analysis of the bunker business in 2026, with each session keeping the premise of ‘doing business better – or differently’ at the centre of the discussions.
The global bunker market has had to withstand some significant operational and commercial shockwaves this year, with events in the Strait of Hormuz and wider Middle East region impacting shipping and bunkering operations and putting marine fuel supply under pressure.
This opening session will look at what changed this year for the bunker industry, in terms of buyer requirements and strategies, sanctions, bunkering locations, fuel avails and pricing. From a commercial perspective, higher bunker prices have boosted trader and physical supplier revenues, but in some locations where fuel supply has been tight, companies have chased down prices to secure deals.
Panellists will consider the lessons to be learned from 2026, and whether market changes are temporary or here for the longer term.
Moderator:
Llewellyn Bankes-Hughes, Founder & CEO, ship.energy Ltd
Speakers:
Georges Panaghoulis, Head of Price Risk & Hedging, Island Oil (Holding) Ltd
Alexandros Panagiotopoulos, Trading Manager, Scandi Trading Ltd
Michelle Wiese Bockmann, Senior Maritime Intelligence Analyst , Windward
Joseph Jaffe, Price Reporter, Residual Fuels, S&P Global
Matthew Wheatley, Director of Research, Trading Data and Analytics – Maritime, Wood Mackenzie
CEO & Founder
ship.energy
Joint CEO, Shipping Innovation | Director, Maritime UK
Llewellyn began his career in the oil industry in 1980, working both as a journalist and as oil broker in London and New York, with Petroleum Argus, Eperon Petroleum, Albion Oil, Petroleum Intelligence Weekly and OPEC Listener, before joining MRC Business Information Group in Oxford – which later became Lloyd’s List Intelligence after MRC’s acquisition by Informa – where he rose to Managing Director before leaving in May 2003 to establish Petrospot Ltd.
He is a Founding Member of the International Bunker Industry Association, which he helped create in 1993 and has organised conferences, seminars, training courses and multiple other events in 35 countries around the world and attended events as a journalist or conference speaker in a further dozen countries.
Llewellyn is co-creator, co-founder and co-owner of the biennial London International Shipping Week, whose first edition took place in September 2013 and has become one of the largest maritime events in the world.
Llewellyn was born in Abergavenny, Wales, in 1957 and lives in Oxfordshire.
Head of Price Risk & Hedging
Island Oil (Holding) Ltd
Georges Panaghoulis is the Head of Price Risk and Hedging at Island Oil Holdings. He began his career in risk management in 2015 at Peninsula Petroleum, before joining Island Oil in 2020 in his current role. Over that time, he has been involved in the set-up of hedging procedures and strategies, exposure reporting, clearing accounts, ETRM implementation and process automation, market analysis, derivatives trading and sales, carbon credits trading and live price evaluation. Georges is an engineer specialising in mechanics and energetics, and started his professional career in 2011 as an Area Sales Manager of technical products. He holds an Executive MBA from Imperial College London.
Senior Maritime Intelligence Analyst
Windward
Michelle Wiese Bockmann is a London-based maritime intelligence analyst specialising in sanctioned oil flows, deceptive and illicit shipping practices and their regulatory, security and legal implications. She is also a subject matter expert in the ‘shadow fleet’ shipping Russian and Iranian oil and gas.
She has more than 25 years’ experience across three continents in shipping and oil markets with a focus on the intersection of global shipping, geopolitics, maritime intelligence, and risk and compliance.
She is currently employed as a senior maritime intelligence analyst at Windward, where she advises governments, agencies, commercial shipping, oil traders, banks, and marine insurers.
Michelle serves on Comité Maritime International working groups on fraudulent flags and deceptive shipping practices and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) Maritime Sanctions Taskforce.
Before moving to England from Australia in 2006 Michelle was a political writer for The Australian, the country’s national newspaper. She has also worked for Bloomberg News, Lloyd’s List and Fairplay shipping publications. Michelle has a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of South Australia.
Price Reporter, Residual Fuels
S&P Global
Joseph joined Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, in 2024 as a Price Reporter in the EMEA Residual Fuels team.
He began by focusing on the fuel oil paper market, before expanding his coverage to include the Northwest European and Mediterranean fuel oil bunker, barge and cargo markets, where he now produces daily price assessments for the region’s key benchmarks.
In addition, Joseph covers the EMEA Bitumen sector, contributing weekly price assessments and regular market insights.
He joined Platts after completing an MSc in Climate Change, Management & Finance at Imperial College Business School.
The implementation of the EU Emissions Trading System and FuelEU Maritime means that compliance with regulatory mandates is now a key priority for shipping and marine fuel companies. This session will discuss how the industry has responded to these obligations, as well as its strategies for compliance, such as vessel pooling. The UK ETS is now in the regulatory mix and other national and regional schemes could also come into play, while the slow transposition of the EU’s revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED III) is also influencing fuel and bunkering location decisions.
ARACON 2026 will take place just before MEPC 85 where Member States may – or may not – finally determine the future of the IMO’s Net Zero Framework – a proposal which has polarised opinion in the global maritime sector. However, while consensus on a GHG reduction regulation with global reach has still to be achieved, the IMO has moved forward on establishing Emission Control Areas, with the Mediterranean ECA coming into force in May 2025 and a North Atlantic ECA taking effect in September 2028. The scope and requirements of these ECAs will influence fuel purchasing decisions.
This session will consider how companies are integrating regulatory compliance into their workflows and if compliance strategies can have a commercial upside.
Moderator:
Lesley Bankes-Hughes, Managing Director, ship.energy Ltd
Speakers:
Trine Braathen, Director, Environmental Trading, Blue Energy Partners
Gordana Ilic, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, BetterSea
Leon Arets, Managing Director – International Marine, FincoEnergies
Naomi van den Berg, Business Development Manager, Anthony Veder Group N.V.
Hans Staal, Fuel Supply Director, DP World Shipping Solutions
Managing Director
ship.energy
Lesley Bankes-Hughes is a highly experienced editor, news journalist and features writer. After a number of years as business editor of Jane’s Defence Weekly, she worked for the International Stock Exchange and Euromoney Publications. She also established a specialist newsletter covering European corporate mergers and acquisitions, and later spent several years at Christ Church, University of Oxford, with responsibility for developing educational outreach projects.
Director, Environmental Trading
Blue Energy Partners
Trine Braathen brings over a decade of experience in carbon and renewable energy markets, supporting companies across the shipping, aviation, and industrial sectors in navigating their path toward sustainability. With deep expertise in both compliance and commercial strategy, she has helped global clients transform complex environmental challenges into measurable progress.
As Director of Environmental Trading at Blue Energy Partners, Trine leads the firm’s carbon trading and advisory services. Driven by a genuine passion for sustainability, she represents a new generation of energy leaders committed to making the green transition both achievable and impactful.
Business Development Manager
Anthony Veder Group N.V.
Naomi van den Berg is Business Development Manager at Anthony Veder, a gas shipping and bunkering company. With over 10 years of experience in the maritime sector, she has worked across shipping, shipbuilding, and clean energy, building international partnerships and leading strategic initiatives in diverse markets.
Prior to joining Anthony Veder, Naomi worked at the Port of Rotterdam Authority, where she was involved in projects related to bunkering of alternative fuels. Holding an MSc in Marine Engineering, she combines technical expertise with commercial insight to drive innovation and collaboration across the maritime value chain.
Fuel Supply Director
DP World Shipping Solutions
Hans Staal is Fuel Supply Director at DP World Shipping Solutions, where he leads fuel procurement, supply strategy, fuel risk management, and activities at the intersection of voluntary carbon markets and compliance-linked decarbonization mechanisms. With more than two decades of experience in marine fuels and energy markets, he has held senior roles across fuel procurement, sales, trading, and physical supply operations, providing him with a broad perspective on the marine fuel value chain. His current work focuses on translating the shipping energy transition into practical, commercially viable decarbonization solutions for DP World, including emission-reduction offerings supported by advanced biofuels, bio-methanol, and other low-carbon fuels.
Tyler Baron, CEO, Minerva Bunkering
While Session 1 will provide the macro view of a challenging geopolitical and, by extension, commercial landscape this year, this session will take a close look at the dynamics of the ARA market. It will examine how the repercussions of global conflicts have impacted cargo flows through ARA ports, bunker prices and procurement choices, and arbitrage opportunities.
Following through from the previous discussions on regulation, speakers will also discuss how this is affecting purchasing strategies in the ARA market, particularly in relation to biofuels. There will also be discussion on how the first year of the mass flow meter mandate for bunker barges at the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp has worked in practice. Has it introduced more transparency into the delivery process in the ARA market and what has been the feedback on its implementation among maritime stakeholders?
Moderator:
Lesley Bankes-Hughes, Managing Director, ship.energy Ltd
Speakers:
Claudia Beumer, Board Member, IBIA – International Bunker Industry Association
Valerie Ahrens, Global Head, Methanol and Strategic Relationships, Burando Energies
Annemie Bryssinck, Key Account Manager, Maritime Business Liquid Bulk, Port of Antwerp-Bruges
Martin Speksnijder, Regional Manager Surveys – Europe, The Viswa Group
Port of Rotterdam (speaker name TBC)
Managing Director
ship.energy
Lesley Bankes-Hughes is a highly experienced editor, news journalist and features writer. After a number of years as business editor of Jane’s Defence Weekly, she worked for the International Stock Exchange and Euromoney Publications. She also established a specialist newsletter covering European corporate mergers and acquisitions, and later spent several years at Christ Church, University of Oxford, with responsibility for developing educational outreach projects.
Director
C4fuel BV
With an educational background in Chemical Engineering and a proven track record in the bunkering industry, Claudia has a wide experience on both conventional and alternative fuels. From her first role on selling Mass Flow Meters, throughout her position in LNG Cargo Handling Systems and the commercial leadership for a barge operator, bunkering has always been at the core of all her activities. All that experience in different aspects of the bunkering industry and the continuous focus on alternative fuels, came together in December 2023 in her own company; C4 fuel.
C4 fuel was established to support maritime stakeholders in better understanding and embracing the changes in the maritime industry from both a technical and commercial perspective. In addition, Claudia represents SGMF as Membership and Communications Manager. Claudia has always been active in several associations, from SGMF at the start of her maritime career, to the NEN working group (methanol bunkering standard) and since April 2023, also as a board member for IBIA (The International Bunker Industry Association), for which she was recently re-elected. Within IBIA, she also acts as the Chair of the Bunkerlicense and MassFlowMeter Working Group and as a member of the Future Fuels Working Group.
One of the ‘mainstays’ of ARACON is its focus on bunker fuel quality and this year’s conference will again discuss trends in fuel quality from a global standpoint as well as with reference to the ARA market. Supply tightness as a result of the Iran-U.S. war which started in February led to some alerts on bunker quality, notably in relation to VLSFO supplied in some Asian ports, so this session will look at quality issues in VLSFO blends as well as the other key conventional marine fuel grades.
As the market uptake of biofuels gains traction, panellists will also take a closer look at the quality issues seen in different biofuels as well as the key question of their provenance. Keeping to the conference theme of doing business better, speakers will also address advances in fuel quality testing.
The legal considerations associated with bunkering, covering areas such as bunker quality and quantity disputes, charterparties, bunker supply agreements and the impact of environmental regulations will also be debated in this session.
As the shipping industry moves through its own energy transition which will require the adoption of new fuels, factors relating to the purchase and supply of these fuels will also come to the fore. As such, experts will consider how these issues should be addressed in contractual provisions.
Moderator:
Stacy Maphula, European Oil Markets Editor, OPIS
Speakers:
Cherry Almeida, Partner, Caland Advocaten
Rafaela Aristidou, Chief Legal Officer, Island Energies
Murray Kirkwood, Fuel Specialist & Marine Consultant, Lloyd’s Register
Partner
Caland Advocaten
Cherry started her career as a lawyer in 2004 and has specialised in maritime law since 2007. In January 2019, she co-founded Caland Advocaten together with four other partners. Caland Advocaten is a boutique law firm specialising in Maritime and Trade law.
Cherry handles a wide range of transport-related matters, with a particular focus on cargo claims and charterers’ liabilities. Her practice increasingly includes advising clients on new contractual arrangements arising from the energy transition and evolving environmental regulation, particularly in relation to renewable and alternative fuels. She assists clients in navigating the contractual and liability implications of new regulatory requirements and sustainability measures affecting the maritime and bunker industries.
Cherry is also regularly instructed to act as an arbitrator, primarily in logistics disputes.
Chief Legal Officer
Island Oil (Holdings) Ltd
Rafaela Aristidou is Chief Legal Officer of Island Oil Group, an international energy, bunkering and maritime services organisation with operations and investments across Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East and beyond.
Rafaela joined Island Oil in 2015 in an operational role, gaining first-hand experience of the marine fuels, bunkering and trading industry before transitioning to the legal function in 2018. She subsequently established and led the Group’s Legal Department, progressing from Legal Counsel to Senior Legal Counsel and, in 2025, Chief Legal Officer.
With experience on both the operational and legal sides of the business, Rafaela brings a practical, commercially focused perspective to legal strategy. Her work spans commercial contracts, maritime claims, fuel quality disputes, corporate governance, financing, M&A and strategic investments across multiple jurisdictions.
Rafaela holds an LL.M. from the University of Groningen and is based in Limassol, Cyprus.
Fuel Specialist Marine Consultant
Lloyd’s Register
Born in Inverness, Scotland, studied Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at Edinburgh University. Joined Lloyd’s Register (LR) at the start of 2013, worked briefly in London before relocating to Southampton. Have worked since in the FOBAS fuel testing business within the advisory side or LR. Involved in day-to-day fuel analysis reporting, advising ship owners and operators on fuel management, regulations, operational problems related to poor quality fuel. Involved in engine damage and fuel quality investigations. Recently involved in delivering fuel management training courses and the publishing of FOBAS/LR fuel quality and bio-fuel reports.
Although certainty on a global regulation on GHG emissions has been seen as a necessary pivot point for shipping’s decarbonisation, the reality is that EU regulation is proving to be an effective driver for the shift to new fuels. This session will reflect on new fuel uptake on a global basis, but the primary focus will be on developments in the ARA market. How are traders and physical suppliers working with buyers to navigate the energy transition, how is the bunker industry reshaping to accommodate the demand for new as well as conventional fuels, and how are shipping and bunker companies facing the challenge of training a workforce to sell, procure and deliver a raft of different fuels?
Other key questions will be the longevity of fossil-based fuels and whether smaller traders and physical supply companies will have the financial heft to survive in a future era of much more expensive and complex bunker fuels.
Moderator:
Lesley Bankes-Hughes, Managing Director, ship.energy Ltd
Speakers:
Chris Turner, Technical Manager, Integr8 Fuels
Álvaro San Pedro, Head of Decarbonisation and New Fuels, Repsol
Morten Jacobsen, Commercial Manager, METHANAVE
Marcel Jordens, Commercial Manager, TankMatch Inland Shipping B.V.
Rudra Mishra, Senior Consultant, Shipping Advisory, DNV
Sophie Delannoy, Program Manager Sustainable Transport Fuels, North Sea Port
Managing Director
ship.energy
Lesley Bankes-Hughes is a highly experienced editor, news journalist and features writer. After a number of years as business editor of Jane’s Defence Weekly, she worked for the International Stock Exchange and Euromoney Publications. She also established a specialist newsletter covering European corporate mergers and acquisitions, and later spent several years at Christ Church, University of Oxford, with responsibility for developing educational outreach projects.
Technical Manager
Integr8 Fuels
Chris Turner, Technical Manager at Integr8 Fuels, joined the bunker trading firm in 2017 and is based in Dubai, UAE.
During his career spanning over 30 years in Oil & Shipping Industries, Chris has vast experience in Laboratory Management, Physical Supply, Bunker Broking, Trading and, more recently, providing technical supervision of the exclusive buying for Owners, Charterers and Operators including the development and design of online bunker resources.
Chris also sits on the International Bunker Industry Association’s (IBIA) technical working group.
Head of Decarbonisation & New Fuels
Repsol
Álvaro San Pedro is Manager of Decarbonization and New Fuels at Repsol, where he leads initiatives to scale low-carbon fuel solutions and drive the energy transition in a hard-to-abate sector as maritime transport and with a multienergy perspective.
A Mining Engineer with an Executive MBA and a Master’s in Hydrogen Technologies, Álvaro has extensive experience in alternative fuels, maritime waste management, and circular economy strategies. At Grupo Tradebe, he led the recycled fuels division, managing MARPOL waste collection operations, while contributing to international expansion and the development of end-of-waste regulatory frameworks.
He served as President of Euroshore International, strengthening collaboration between European institutions and maritime stakeholders to advance sustainable port and fuel supply solutions.
Álvaro is actively engaged in cross-sector collaboration to align fuel supply capabilities with the evolving needs of the shipping and bunkering industries, supporting a balanced and pragmatic approach to the energy transition.
Commercial Manager
METHANAVE
Morten Jacobsen is Commercial Manager at METHANAVE and a maritime energy transition executive with more than 35 years of international industry experience. Over the past six years, he has been dedicated to the development and market adoption of sustainable marine fuels.
METHANAVE is a Switzerland-based maritime energy transition company specializing in the commercialization and deployment of sustainable alcohol fuels for the shipping industry.
Today, Morten works at the forefront of advancing ethanol as a marine fuel, focusing on market development, supply chain creation, and stakeholder engagement across the maritime value chain. His objective is to help establish ethanol as a scalable, practical and commercially viable pathway to lower-emission shipping operations.
Program Manager Sustainable Transport fuels
North Sea Port
Sophie Delannoy is a logistics and energy transition professional working at the intersection of ports, sustainable fuels, mobility and the decarbonisation of transport. Her work focuses on turning the ambition of the energy and fuel transition into practical solutions — connecting policy, infrastructure, industry and logistics to make the transition happen on the ground.
Since joining the logistics sector in 2010, Sophie has built experience across international rail freight, logistics innovation and port-based energy transition. She started her career at Lineas, where she worked on international transport projects, operational development and strategic partnerships, gaining first-hand experience of the complexity of cross-border logistics and multimodal transport.
In 2020, Sophie joined the Flanders Institute for Logistics (VIL) as a Project Lead, working with companies, governments and knowledge institutions on the transformation of logistics. Her projects addressed topics including electrification, energy transition and new models of collaboration across the logistics value chain.
Since 2022, Sophie has been part of North Sea Port, the cross-border Belgian-Dutch port and industrial cluster, where she leads the Sustainable Transport Fuels programme. Her work sits at the intersection of logistics and energy, with a particular focus on alternative fuels, port readiness, bunkering, shipping decarbonisation, electrification and clean energy hubs. She works across industry, government and international partners to translate European and national policy ambitions into practical port and logistics solutions.
Alongside her role at North Sea Port, Sophie serves as Chair of the Freight Transport, Logistics and International Nodes Committee of the Mobility Council of Flanders (MORA), the formal advisory body on mobility in Flanders. In this capacity, she brings together perspectives from industry, transport operators, ports, social partners and other stakeholders to contribute to policy advice on freight transport, logistics and the role of international transport nodes.
This combination of industry experience and policy engagement gives Sophie a distinctive perspective on the transition of European transport systems: from the practical realities of ports and logistics operations to the regulatory and strategic frameworks shaping their future.
Sophie is active in international discussions on sustainable transport and port decarbonisation. She contributes as a speaker and panellist to industry forums on sustainable fuels, multi-fuel port readiness, maritime decarbonisation and energy transition, including discussions hosted by the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH). Her recent work focuses increasingly on the evolution of ports from logistics nodes into integrated energy and transition platforms.
Her perspective is grounded in implementation: how ports and logistics ecosystems can prepare for a multi-fuel future, how infrastructure and supply chains need to evolve, and how policy, industry and cross-border ecosystems can work together to turn transition strategies into operational solutions.
