05 February - 07 February
Hilton Dubai Jumeirah, UAE
Now in its ninth year, the Middle East Bunkering Convention (MEBC) returns to Dubai in February to offer expert comment and informed debate about the issues and challenges impacting the global marine fuel sector and, as always, to provide a sharp focus on the evolving Middle East bunker market.
Overview
Standard Rate: £650
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 [email protected] or call +44 1295 814455 to discuss this further.
Welcome Coffee
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Keynote Speech:
Cem Saral, CEO, Cockett Group
As geopolitical headwinds continue to impact the shipping industry, speakers in this opening session will consider how vessel trading patterns are being adapted in response to the current volatile economic climate, on a global scale and regionally. Is ‘deglobalisation’ set to become a future trend and how might this affect various vessel segments and bunkering.
Speakers will examine the current commercial pressures on bunker companies, including fuel prices, the availability of credit, bunker licensing, and fuel quality challenges. As margins have narrowed over the past year, this session will consider whether more industry consolidation is on the horizon. Are bunker companies having to become ‘leaner and fitter’ to stay ahead and how are they approaching issues such as staff recruitment and retention.
Moderator: Lesley Bankes-Hughes, Managing Director, Petrospot Ltd
Middle East continues to be a growing oil market with incremental supply, products trade, as well as oil demand
The Middle East continues to be a growing oil market with incremental supply, products trade, as well as oil demand
Dr. Iman Nasseri, Managing Director, Middle East, Facts Global Energy M.E. DMCC
Maritime decarbonization challenges & (short-term) solutions
Arno de Jager, Head of Strategy & Business Development, Strive by STX, STX Group
Evolving into a new world
Chris Turner, Manager Bunker Quality & Claims, Integr8 Fuels
The Perfect Storm II
Chris Morgan, Head of Credit and Compliance, Shipergy
Fuel Quality Overview
Tracy Wardell, Global Technical Manager, Intertek Lintec
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In the light of the ongoing Ukraine crisis, speakers in this session will consider compliance with national sanctions regimes and discuss whether stringent counterparty risk assessments and more rigorous due diligence processes are now a fact of life for all companies who operate in the marine fuels value chain – or is there more work to be done. ESG reporting obligations for all marine fuel and shipping stakeholders will also be examined.
The impact of CII and EEXI will be reviewed a year on since their implementation by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), as well as the new ambitions in the IMO’s revised greenhouse gas strategy agreed in mid-2023.
New European regulations, such as FuelEU Maritime and the inclusion of shipping in the EU’s emissions trading system (ETS) which will impact all vessels that call at European ports, will come into play in 2024. MEBC will consider the possible ramifications of such regulations on shipping and bunkering companies, and also discuss the possibility that new environmental regulations and other market-based measures, such as a carbon levy, could also be introduced in other regions and on a global basis. Speakers will also consider how the cost of compliance with new environmental rules will add to credit pressures.
Moderator: Lesley Bankes-Hughes, Managing Director, Petrospot Ltd
Sanctions and Regulatory Update
Mark Lakin, Partner, Stephenson Harwood Middle East LLP
Shipping and Credit Risks in the actual scenario
Enrico Molisani, Credit Risk and Legal Manager, Rudder SAM (Monaco)
Regulatory developments impacting shipping, bunker supply and ports – Middle East perspective
Yaman Al Hawamdeh, Managing Partner – UAE, HFW
Credit and Compliance: Navigating Margins
William Hogg, Senior Analyst, Counterparty Risk/Due Diligence, Infospectrum
Natalie Jensen, Partner, Ince & Co
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.
Partner
Stephenson Harwood Middle East LLP
Mark is a senior litigator and partner in the firm’s Dubai office. He has a broad range of commercial litigation and arbitration experience, with specialist expertise in the maritime and commodities sectors.
Mark has played a pivotal role in developing the firm’s litigation and arbitration practice in the Middle East. He acts for large trading houses, shipping companies, financial institutions, and major oil and gas companies who are located both in the region and internationally.
He is a skilled litigator and solicitor advocate who advises on all forms of dispute resolution and represents clients as counsel in both Court and arbitration proceedings. Recent cases include major frauds, commodities disputes and oil and gas disputes worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Mark has led numerous significant cases before various international arbitral tribunals, including LCIA, DIAC, LMAA, ICC, UNCITRAL, GAFTA, FOSFA, SIAC, and HKIAC. He has also represented clients in prominent cases before the DIFC and UAE Courts, and the English High Court, many of which have received extensive coverage in the trade and legal press.
Mark is listed as a “Leading Individual” for Shipping: Dispute Resolution by Chambers and Partners Global 2024 and a “Next Generation Partner” for Shipping within the Legal 500 EMEA 2024 Guide, UAE. In addition, he is listed as “Recommended Lawyer” for Dispute Resolution: Arbitration and International Litigation within the Legal 500 EMEA 2024 Guide, UAE.
Clients praise him as being a “a shrewd litigator with excellent knowledge of the market” who is a “savvy and skilled operator” that provides “out of the box solutions.” Clients also value his ability to combine “excellent commercial instincts along with an in-depth knowledge of the law” as well as understanding “legal issues and thinking around the matter from a strategic point of view”.
Senior Analyst, Counterparty Risk/Due Diligence
Infospectrum
William Hogg is a co-founder of Infospectrum, and has worked in the due diligence and counterparty risk management sector for almost 30 years. Since its launch in October 1999 by an established team of Senior Analysts, Infospectrum has grown to become the leading provider of counterparty credit risk appraisal reports, KYC intelligence, and ratings in the maritime and energy/commodity trading sector. William has focused on asset-light companies in low disclosure jurisdictions, leveraging Infospectrum’s proprietary databank that encapsulates 25 years of institutional memory, the collective experience of a team of 50 sector specialists that provide global coverage with local access, and an extensive market network built on trust and discretion.
The Middle East, and the UAE in particular, is a key market for Infospectrum, both in terms of clients and target companies, with the region providing its own unique complexities and challenges. Our team has provided our Middle Eastern clients with greater transparency and actionable intelligence on their proposed or current business partners, worldwide.
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The focus of this session is on the bunker markets in the Middle East and other regional markets, such as Sri Lanka. Speakers will look at shipping segments, cargo flows, refining capacity, fuel availability and pricing, existing and new entrants to the bunker sector, and market opportunities and challenges, particularly in the light of recent geopolitical events.
The session will also consider the expansion plans of regional ports, their import and export flows, and the provision of new bunkering infrastructure.
Moderator: Lesley Bankes-Hughes, Managing Director, Petrospot Ltd
Maaz Ahmed, Regional Manager MEA – Marine Fuels, Oilmar Shipping & Chartering
Navigating New Horizons in the Evolving Maritime Landscapes
Captain Batti Al Shibli, Harbour Master, Sohar Port and Freezone
Middle East Market
Sean Burgin, Middle East Purchasing Manager, Senior Sourcer, Glander International Bunkering
Developments – Middle East
Colin Holloway, Global Head – Technical, Cockett Group
Bunkering In UAE: Surveyor’s Perspective
Capt. Vikram Mohan, Managing Director, Viking Marine Services
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.
Harbour Master
SOHAR Port and Freezone
Batti joined SOHAR in 2004, just when the port began its operations. With 20+ years experience in the nautical and maritime industry, he specializes in navigation, seamanship, maritime communication, maritime safety, port operation, ship construction, cargo handling, meteorology, ship handling and manoeuvring, marine law and marine environmental law, logistics and supply chain.
In 2014, Batti was appointed as Harbour Master, for the marine department, and as member of SOHAR management team.
Senior Purchaser and Team Leader
Unicore
Sean Burgin has been part of the shipping industry since 2004 and is currently based in Dubai with Bunker Holding, one of the region’s largest bunker resellers. In his role, Sean leads the Supply Trading team, overseeing the group’s activities across the Middle East.
With extensive experience spanning both commercial and operational roles in Europe and the Middle East – including positions at Maersk Oil Trading and GP Global – Sean brings a comprehensive understanding of the bunker supply chain from multiple perspectives.
As a member of the Middle East IBIA Board, Sean is committed to driving innovation, promoting responsible bunkering practices, and addressing the evolving needs of the maritime industry.
Global Head - Technical
Cockett Group
Colin Holloway’s career in the oil and maritime industry spans more than 30 years during which he has gained extensive knowledge of a broad range of technical, as well as commercial and operational activities throughout the Middle East and Africa region.
As Global Head Technical at Cockett Group, Colin is responsible for all technical aspects of marine fuel, reselling, petroleum products and services worldwide, while being in charge of the Group’s technical strategy and approach, including the implementation of new systems, tools, policies and procedures.
As part of his responsibilities, he overlooks the monitoring and updates of the Group’s accreditation to and in line with the most current ISO 9001 framework, ensuring all offered products and services meet international customer and regulatory requirements.
In his role, he manages the Group’s vetting process, selecting the suppliers and service providers based on a strict auditing protocol, while addressing the technical needs of the Group’s globally diverse client base.
Additionally, Colin designs and implements training programmes for the Group’s technical staff members covering all technical aspects of the business and contributing to the Group’s consistent high-level performance.
Colin started his career as a chemist at the Coryton oil refinery in Essex, England, and eventually relocated to the Middle East for the SGS Inspection Group, where he gained extensive product knowledge, including the full spectrum of petroleum products, petrochemicals and bulk commodities.
Further landmarks of his career saw Colin at DNV Petroleum Services, where he was introduced to the technical world of bunkering and the maritime side of the business, as well as at a local bunker trader and Fujairah-based physical supplier strengthening his comprehensive industry know-how.
Colin holds an MBA in International Business from University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD), UAE.
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MEBC will discuss how the marine fuels sector is preparing for a multi-fuel future and, as the ‘first mover’ shipping companies set out their alternative fuel strategies, speakers will also consider how mid-sized and small companies are assessing their fuel and fleet renewal strategies.
COP28, to be held in Dubai in late 2023, will be a barometer for the world’s progress towards net or absolute zero, and MEBC24 will provide a platform for debate on the outcomes of this crucial meeting as they relate to shipping.
The Middle East is fast becoming a key producer of new, low carbon energy sources and MEBC speakers will look at how this is impacting on shipping, bunker supply, and the region’s ports, as well as the potential for green shipping corridors.
As new fuels enter the bunker supply chain, this year’s conference will also ask how marine fuel physical suppliers and traders are planning to adapt to what will be both a new commercial and operational environment.
Moderator: Lesley Bankes-Hughes, Managing Director, Petrospot Ltd
Methanol as a Marine Fuel
Chris Chatterton, COO, The Methanol Institute.
Steve Bee, Group Commercial & Business Development Director, VPS
Panellists:
Arno de Jager, Head of Strategy & Business Development, Strive by STX, STX Group
Gary Hubbard FCILT, SVP Commercial & Operations, The Biofuel Company
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.
Senior Vice President, Commercial & Operations
The Biofuel Company
Gary Hubbard is the SVP responsible for all Commercial & Operational matters at TBFCo in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Founded in 2022, they are now the largest producer of European-compliant net zero biofuel in the GCC.
Having worked across the Middle East since 2000, his focus is on providing high quality net zero fuel to the logistics, power generation, FMCG, hospitality, maritime, events and construction industries across within the Kingdom to achieve Saudi Vision 2030.
We was responsible for the first maritime bunkering of biofuel within the UAE in 2020 and has been involved in almost every biofuel bunkering in region, since then.
He specialises in environmental supply chain optimisation and strategic planning, reducing client costs and enhancing their sustainable business operations. His extensive international experience has been gained in the Middle East, North and South America, Asia Pacific, Africa and Europe, holding senior leadership positions for MAERSK, DSV, DHL, Geodis, Hapag Lloyd, Transmar Line & Neutral Fuels.
He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.
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