Building resilience in a changing world
A key hub for global shipping and marine fuels. The event will bring together bunker buyers, suppliers, traders, and other maritime professionals to discuss the industry’s most pressing issues.
18 May - 21 May
InterContinental Miramar, Panama
A key hub for global shipping and marine fuels. The event will bring together bunker buyers, suppliers, traders, and other maritime professionals to discuss the industry’s most pressing issues.
MWA Headline Conference
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 Llewellyn Bankes-Hughes at [email protected] or call +44 1295 814455 to discuss this further.
This panel session will look closely at developments in key bunker markets in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean, from the perspective of bunker suppliers, buyers and terminal operators. It will cover new supply sources, availability of traditional and new fuels, ports and infrastructure, and other factors affecting the shipping, maritime and bunkering sectors in those countries.
Moderator: Paul Ross, Fuel Procurement Manager, Royal Caribbean Group
Panelists:
Panel Discussion & Audience Q&A
Head of Sales – Americas
Minerva Bunkering (USA) LLC
Christopher Roberts spent 12 years at sea in the American Merchant Marine sailing as Third Mate up to Master on oil tankers all around the world. He came ashore and worked for the shipping group of Hess Corporation until 2004 when he helped launch their bunker supply business. It quickly became the largest independent supplier of bunker fuel on the US East Coast selling over 2 million metric tonnes per year out of five East Coast ports.
When Hess later divested all downstream M&R businesses his group was sold to Aegean Marine Petroleum where he was initially in charge of Sales and Marketing for the U.S. East coast later expanding to Los Angeles. Unfortunately, Aegean faced financial issues leading to a Chapter 11 filing during which Chris was elevated to global head of Sales and Marketing where he did his best to keep supply moving and maintain the good reputation of the sales group.
The Aegean business was then purchased by Mercuria Energy Trading where Chris is presently the Head of Sales for Minerva Bunkering (USA) LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary. He is happy to report that Minerva Bunkering is growing and is one of the largest suppliers of bunker fuel around the world, moving approximately 14 million tons of fuel per year.
Corporate Consultant
Decal Panama S.A.
Javier Ortiz Abadia is a Consultant to the Board of Directors of Decal Panama, for the evaluation and development of projects in the Caribbean/Central America region since 2013. He is a former General Manager of Decal Panama, CMA CGM Panama, and French Shipping Agency (Panama). He also served 10 periods in the Board of Directors of the Maritime Chamber of Panama.
Before relocating to Panama, Mr. Ortiz served as an Exxon Executive in 5 countries of the Caribbean/Central America region for over 26 years, most notably as Country Manager in the Cayman Islands, Acting Country Manager in Nicaragua, Controller and Marine Manager in Panama, and Central America Area Manager for Exxon Chemicals.
Javier is a licensed Industrial Engineer from Texas A&M University, and holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Oklahoma. He is also an Authorized Public Translator (English/ Spanish) in Panama.
Fuel Sourcing & Strategy Manager
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings
Chelsea Jaouli is Fuel Sourcing & Strategy Manager at Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, responsible for fuel procurement across Africa, Oceania, and the U.S. East Coast.
Over the past 13 years, she has built a career in global energy markets spanning cruise line sourcing and commodity trading roles with Royal Caribbean Group, Carnival Corporation, and Glencore.
Her work focuses on regional market dynamics, supplier partnerships, and executing fuel strategies across complex, multi-market environments.
This session will feature leaders in the shipping, maritime and bunkering sectors who will give their frank views on the state of the industry and take questions from the audience.
Moderator: Llewellyn Bankes-Hughes, CEO & Founder, ship.energy
Panellists:
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.
Owner
2050 Marine Energy
Adrian Tolson is the owner of 2050 Marine Energy and is widely recognized as one of the shipping industry’s leading marine energy experts. With more than 35 years of experience, he has both detailed knowledge and unique insight into the bunker supply chain and its many related infrastructure developments.
2050 Marine Energy was formed in late 2022 to provide commercial insight to all stakeholders in the marine fuel supply chain navigating the disruption of this decade and future transformation. This new venture comes as Adrian leaves his role as Insight Lead at BLUE after more than decade of close cooperation with brand and communications consultancy. He will continue to act as a Strategic Advisor to the company, working with specific existing clients and providing consultancy on marine energy trends.
Adrian has led numerous global business development projects across the marine energy sector. This includes assisting ship owners and physical suppliers on future fuel procurement and supply strategies; the development of bunkering infrastructure projects for existing and alternative fuels; as well as working with the financial and investment community on the opportunities in the future marine energy landscape.
Adrian’s experience spans leadership roles with some of the industry’s largest marine fuel suppliers, including Chemoil Energy, where he was responsible for successfully driving the company through to IPO; and as Vice President and General Manager of OW Bunker where he established its physical supply operation in the USA.
Elected to the board of the International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) in 2020, Adrian is currently its Treasurer and Chairman of the IBIA’s Americas Regional Board.
Principal and Owner
Simms Showers LLP
J. Stephen (‘Steve’) Simms is Principal of Simms Showers LLP. He chairs the International Bunker Industry Association’s (IBIA) Legal Working Group and is Legal Advisor to SEA/LNG.
Simms Showers is one of the world’s most active law firms working in the area of bunker trader, broker and supplier representation.
Steve Simms was selected for the U.S. Department of Justice, Honor Law Graduates Program and was a federal prosecutor and Editor‑in‑Chief of the Northwestern Journal of International Law and Business at Northwestern University School of Law (Chicago). He holds an M.A. in International Studies from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and a B.A. in International Studies from The Johns Hopkins University.
He is the husband of his wife of 33 years, Denise, and Dad of daughter Alison and son John, and of Benson, the Coton de Tulear (the royal dog of Madagascar, somewhat removed from actual royalty).
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.
Executive Director and 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.
Managing Director
Monjasa
Relocating from Denmark to Stamford, US in 2011 to set up Monjasa’s first presence in the Americas, Rasmus Jacobsen has developed in-depth knowledge of the global oil and shipping industries for more than a decade.
Coming from an internal position as Bunker Trader and General Manager, Rasmus Jacobsen was appointed Managing Director for Monjasa Americas in 2016. Today, Rasmus Jacobsen is located at Monjasa Americas’ headquarters in Panama City.
Since his accession to the Monjasa Group top management, Rasmus has contributed significantly to the strategic, organisational and commercial development of the Monjasa Group.
Educated as Sergeant First Class, Rasmus started his professional career in the Danish Army, which included secondments with NATO forces in Kosovo in 2005 and the coalition forces in Iraq in 2007. In addition, Rasmus Jacobsen holds experience from the LEGO Group in Denmark, where he worked with supply chain management from 2009-2011.
Head of Sales – Americas
Minerva Bunkering (USA) LLC
Christopher Roberts spent 12 years at sea in the American Merchant Marine sailing as Third Mate up to Master on oil tankers all around the world. He came ashore and worked for the shipping group of Hess Corporation until 2004 when he helped launch their bunker supply business. It quickly became the largest independent supplier of bunker fuel on the US East Coast selling over 2 million metric tonnes per year out of five East Coast ports.
When Hess later divested all downstream M&R businesses his group was sold to Aegean Marine Petroleum where he was initially in charge of Sales and Marketing for the U.S. East coast later expanding to Los Angeles. Unfortunately, Aegean faced financial issues leading to a Chapter 11 filing during which Chris was elevated to global head of Sales and Marketing where he did his best to keep supply moving and maintain the good reputation of the sales group.
The Aegean business was then purchased by Mercuria Energy Trading where Chris is presently the Head of Sales for Minerva Bunkering (USA) LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary. He is happy to report that Minerva Bunkering is growing and is one of the largest suppliers of bunker fuel around the world, moving approximately 14 million tons of fuel per year.
Global Head of Operations
Peninsula
Jeroen De Vos is Global Head of Operations at Peninsula and being based in Gibraltar. He began his career in the maritime industry as a marine engineer where he gained valuable seagoing experience from various companies including the Royal Dutch Navy.
Jeroen joined DNV Petroleum Services in 2000 as a Technical Advisor and wore many hats over the next decade and a half.
In 2015 Jeroen became Global Technical Director at VPS when he moved to Peninsula in 2019 to build and head up the dedicated Quality Department.
In 2023 Jeroen became member of IBIA’s board of directors. He is also an active member in several international working groups including ISO/TC 28/SC 4 ‘Classification and specification of conventional marine fuels and marine drop-in fuels’.
Llewellyn Bankes-Hughes, CEO & Founder, ship.energy
MWA Delegates will enjoy an exclusive visit to a bunker barge operated by Monjasa. The visit will include lunch served at the terminal, providing an informal setting for discussion and networking.
Registered attendees are invited to confirm their attendance by emailing: [email protected]
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