Speakers 2010
Klas BROGREN
First on the list again? Blame the alphabet!
Since childhood, ferries and passenger shipping has been my hobby and job career – so I can claim more than four decades of experience. After five years as a shipbroker in Stockholm, I returned to my native town Halmstad. Gradually, the need for facts and figures of this industry got my ShipPax Information turning into a lively company with 8 people working with ... my hobby.
Robert CLIFFORD
(RClifford@incat.com.au)
Robert Clifford, Chairman of Incat, designed and built his first boat after lessons learned during many years of sailing in yachts and operating fishing boats and river ferries. He built a 250 passenger ferry in 1972 to serve the Port of Hobart, then established International Catamarans which built a series of vessels for the Australian market. By the late 80’s Incat was building the wave piercing catamarans for which it is renown.
Entering the International market in 1990 Robert Clifford and Incat were delighted when the 74 metre Hoverspeed Great Britain took out the prestigious Hales Trophy for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic, two more Blue Riband wins followed, and 20 years on the Trophy remains with an Incat built ship, with still no challenger in sight. Over those two decades Incat moved from smaller car ferries to building military craft or commercial ships with vehicle decks large enough for articulated lorries. Incat and Robert Clifford are now embracing the push for greener, more environmentally friendly and fuel efficient ships as the next challenge – building bigger and more efficient light weight passenger and freight vessels.
Hanns Heinrich CONZEN
(Hannes.Conzen@TTLine.com)
After graduating (Master of Economics, Business Academy Hamburg) Hannes started his shipping career with the German ship-owner Aug. Bolten (1982 – 1985) as Managing Director of the subsidiary in Piraeus/Greece. He joined TT-Line in 1986 and was elected to the group’s board in 1992 and, in 1995, became Managing Director of TT-Line.TT-Line is specialized on the Germany-Sweden traffic. The fleet (6 ships on the Travemünde-Trelleborg and Rostock-Trelleborg route) is considered as one of the most modern and innovative in the market.
Hannes is 51 years old and lives with his wife and 3 young children in Hamburg.
Carl-Otto DAHLBERG
(c-o.dahlberg@imperialshipping.com)
Carl-Otto Dahlberg is a partner in Imperial Shipping Ltd a shipowning company specialising in dry the cargo and RoRo fields. In the RoRo field the company is a tonnage supplier to well known operators.
Carl-Otto started out his career in the shipbuilding industry with Kockums in 1974 when Sweden was the 2nd biggest shipbuilder in the world. He then worked in shipowning as well as a S&P shipbroker before joining Stena RoRo as Managing Director which position he held for 16 years until 2006. Carl-Otto has been on the Board of Directors of the Nordisk Skipsrederforening, Oslo and is today board member of various both shipping and non shipping companies.
Ingvald FARDAL
(ingvald.fardal@fjordline.no)
Ingvald Fardal has been President / CEO of Fjord Line AS since October 2007 and chairman of Fjord Line’s board during 2006 / 2007.
Ingvald Fardals academic career is an MBA from University of Oregon, USA.
Fardals career has covered sales, marketing and operational roles inside and outside the shipping and travel industry. In 1989 he was Sales and Marketing Director for Jahre Line. In 1990 he was part of the management team that established Color Line and purchased Fred Olsen lines. He continued as Sales and Marketing Director in Color Lines for a few years there after. Late 1992 Ingvald Fardal joined SAS International Hotels as VP Sales and Marketing. During the next 8 years he was part of the team that established Radisson SAS Hotels Worldwide (changed name to Radisson Blu during 2009 ) and expanded this brand to over 100 hotels through more than 20 countries in Europe, Middle East, South Africa and China. From 2002 until 2007 Fardal was President / CEO of Finny Sirevaag AS, a company within the fishing industry in Norway.
William GIBBONS
(W.Gibbons@psa-psara.org)
Williams Gibbons has been director of the Passenger Shipping Association (PSA) since April 1994. Since that time he has worked to actively promote the UK cruising industry to UK holidaymakers and the travel trade, through the PSA’s Passenger Shipping Association Retail Agents scheme (PSARA) and generic PR Campaign. Since 2003 the PSA has been coordinating further PR activity, to promote travel by ferry. The PSA is the trade association for both cruise and ferry companies based in the UK and currently has 32 cruise and 19 ferry members. The PSA is now seen as the main industry voice for commercial matters as well as a source of information and advice for the public.
In 2004 Bill was very involved in setting up the European Cruise Council (ECC). He is currently Marketing Director of the ECC.
In the same year the PSA set up an Associate Membership Scheme, which currently has 42 members.
From 1990 to 1994 William was an independent management consultant, working particularly in the ferry industry, whilst also studying for an MBA degree. William previously held the post of general manager of Sealink Isle of Wight ferries, prior to which he was the service manager and then ferry line manager for the Harwich Hook of Holland ferry route.
William was previously assistant shipping and port manager for the Port of Harwich and worked on the Channel Island services from Portsmouth.
William has two children and lives in London and Dorset. He is also a Justice of the Peace (J.P) in central London.
Simon JOHNSON
(simon.johnson@poferries.com)
Simons’ career has covered sales, marketing and operational roles inside and outside the shipping and travel industry. In the 90’s, he developed the largest self-drive tour operator in the UK whilst at Stena Line.
Outside of travel, he has been the Commercial Director of the London Chamber of Commerce which lobbied and promoted London business.
Simon is now the Tourist Sales and Marketing Director of P&O Ferries, the largest in the UK. In 2005, he was one of the team who implemented a Fundamental Business Review of the business which helped to turn round P&O’s fortunes. During that time he introduced their low-cost pricing model and launched an award winning advertising campaign. Currently he is working on the introduction of two of the largest ever ships to sail the Dover straights, which will enter service in 2011. In the next couple of years he is directly involved in devising a new on board offer to coincide with the new ships and a new booking, pricing and inventory system which will replace the current systems.
He is the Ferry Chair of the Passenger Shipping Association Board and a Board member of the Institute of Travel and Tourism.
Trond KLEIVDAL
(trond.kleivdal@colorline.no)
Mr. Trond Kleivdal is the President and CEO of Color Line AS. Tronds academic career started at the Royal Norwegian Naval Academy before graduating from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration in 1988.
Trond started his professional career in the Kvaerner Fast Ferry division where after he in 1994 joined P.F. Bassoe as a shipbroker. After a short period within the Swede Ship group he stared to work in the cruise ferry industry, first in 1996 within Larvik Scandi Line, later same year in Color Line.
Color Line is today Norway’s leading cruise ferry operator with a yearly turnover of approximately 4,5 billion NOK and approximately 3.000 employees. The company deploys a total of six ships on four routes linking seven ports in four countries; Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Germany. During its extensive fleet renewal programme, which commenced in 2004, Color Line has invested some 7,5 billion NOK in construction of new ships and infrastucture.
Trond has had different management roles in Color Line and was appointed President and CEO in 2001. Apart from a number of board positions within the Color family of companies Trond is also a member of the board of the Norwegian Shipowners Association (NSA).
Yiota KRASSAKOPOULOU
(krassakopoulou@attica-group.com)
Yiota Krassakopoulou is Legal Advisor for ATTICA GROUP, parent company of SUPERFAST FERRIES and BLUE STAR FERRIES. Since 2002 she advises the Group on EU affairs, competition law, corporate issue management, Government relations and strategic policy planning.
Yiota has also been advising the Greek Associations of Passenger Shipping on legislative and regulatory matters and she is often appointed as national industry representative in international and European fora and committees pertaining to legal and regulatory negotiations. Yiota has helped the industry to re-define its political and legislative position both with European Union institutions and Greek Authorities and she led the legal and political process leading to the liberalisation of the Greek cabotage market.
Member of the Athens Bar, Yiota practiced Law in Brussels and Athens since 1999, representing corporate, institutional and trade association clients in the fields of Competition, International Trade, Maritime, Corporate and Intellectual Property Law.
Mike LOUAGIE
(editor@shippax.se)
Born in the Belgian ferry port Oostende, his favourite sport was sailing. Another hobby was photography, and in fact these were the two most important drives for his career. During several years he spent his holidays on a large sailing yacht, with as favourite area the South Coast of England. Accompanied by his camera he fell in love with the sea and the ships, and was very much impressed by the famous “’Beken of Cowes” black and white yacht photography. Starting as a contributor for shiplover magazines he was quickly bored with the traditional three quarter bow views, and wanted to have an artistic approach on ship photography.
As from 1989 he met Klas Brogren who, as publisher, had the same vision. Ever since Mike has been taking pictures on numerous ferries and cruise ships, for ShipPax, but also for a wide array of maritime companies.
In the late nineties he started to write as well for several magazines and papers. In 2009 he became also consultant editor for ShipPax’s monthly magazine Cruise & Ferry Info, still in combination with the photography.
Enn PANT
(enn.pant@tallink.ee)
Enn Pant is the Chairman of the Management Board of the leading passenger shipping company on the Baltic Sea – AS Tallink Grupp, since 1996. Under his leadership Tallink has developed one of the most modern passenger transportation fleets in Europe and reached the annual passenger volume of over 8 million. Tallink currently owns 19 vessels and operates on seven different shipping routes. More information on www.tallink.com.
Before joining Tallink, from 1993-96 Enn Pant was the Secretary General in the Estonian Ministry of Finance and prior to that he worked in several financial institutions.
Bruce PETER
(brucepeteruk@yahoo.co.uk)
Dr Bruce Peter lectures in architecture and design history and theory at the Glasgow School of art’s Department of Historical & Critical Studies, A life-long ship enthusiast and a frequent traveller of ferries and cruise vessels, he finds himself constantly frustrated by modern port environments. To him, one can tell the quality and civilisation of a port by the ease with which one can photograph the ships. Bruce is the author of several beautifully-illustrated books on modern passenger ship design, including ‘Cruise: Identity, Design & Culture’ (Lawrence King and Rizzoli, 2006), ‘Knud E. Hansen A/S: Ship Design Through seven Decades (Forlaget Nautilus, 2007) and ‘QE2: Britain’s Greatest Liner’ (Ferry Publications, 2008). He is presently working on a new book about Danish liner shipping.
Guy PLATTEN
(guy.platten@cmassets.co.uk)
Guy was appointed Managing Director for Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) in August 2007. CMAL is wholly owned by Scottish Ministers and currently owns 31 ferries of varying size and 21 harbour facilities throughout the west coast of Scotland and the Clyde Estuary that are used to provide lifeline ferry services to island communities. The Company is charged with the long term management of these assets including vessel replacement and harbour development. The assets are made available to operators currently CalMac Ferries Ltd, who deliver the lifeline ferry service under a competitively tendered public service contract with the Scottish Government.
Before joining CMAL Guy was Director of Marine Operations for the Northern Lighthouse Board and was responsible for the NLB fleet, Oban port facility, 24 hour monitor centre and providing navigational advice regarding the provision of Aids to Navigation around the coast of Scotland and the Isle of Man. He started his career at sea in the Merchant Navy in 1982 serving with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Service. After gaining his Master Mariner Certificate he moved to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution as an Inspector of Lifeboats, latterly as Inspector for Scotland. He also served 3 years with the Ministry of Defence as a Salvage Officer. As a Salvage Officer Guy was closely involved in the project to remove oil from the sunken battleship HMS Royal Oak in Scapa Flow as well as undertaking routing salvage operations including the refloating of a grounded type 23 Frigate in Oslo Fjord.
Guy lives in Edinburgh and enjoys a wide variety of interests including running and keeping his four children amused.
Johan ROOS
(johan.roos@stena.com)
Johan Roos is the Director of Sustainability with Stena Rederi, covering all of Stena’s shipping activities ranging from passenger vessels to drill ships. He holds a Masters Degree in Environmental Sciences from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. He is an active member within a number of Shipping Associations, such as The Swedish Shipowners Association, ECSA and Intertanko. He also represents Interferry at IMO’s meetings.
Thina Margrethe SALTVEDT
(thina.margrethe.saltvedt@nordea.com)
Thina Margrethe Saltvedt is a senior macro/oil analyst with Economic Research and the Global Commodities Strategist at Nordea Markets. She has also been with Operational Risk at Nordea Markets. Before Nordea, she held a position with Norges Bank within the Financial Stability area. Thina has a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. D.) degree in Business Economics and a Master of Science (MSc) degree in International Business from University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), United Kingdom. The title of her doctoral thesis is: “Strategies for Corporate Exchange Rate Risk Management in a Dynamic Production Environment”. In addition, she holds a Bachelor of Management degree from the Norwegian School of management and has completed a course in tax law at the University of Oslo, Faculty of Law.
Edvard Thonstad SANDVIK
(edvard.sandvik@vegvesen.no)
Edvard Thonstad Sandvik is the team leader of the ferry team at the Norwegian Public Roads Administration. He holds a Masters Degree in Transport Economics from the University of Leeds, UK. He has earlier been a research Economist at Molde Research institute were his field were transport, and thereby also ferry operations. In the 90`s he worked in local Friends of the Earth groups with costal transport.
Bo-Lennart THORBJÖRNSSON
(blt@boltconsulting.se)
After gaining a B. Sc. in Ba and Econ at Lund University in 1972, he joined Lion Ferry AB, and was three years later promoted to Marketing Manager. In 1978, he became International Passenger Manager for Lion Ferry’s five European routes and markets.
In 1981, he moved to DFDS Helsingborg as Line Manager and became after two years Managing Director of DFDS in Hamburg, Germany, where restructuring led to the company becoming profitable again. Continuing with DFDS, at HQ Copenhagen, in 1984, he became Group Director and head of DFDS Seaways’ six European routes. In the year 2000, he was appointed CEO and Managing Director of DFDS Group Executive Board, again based in Copenhagen. After seventeen years working away from his family Monday-Friday, he decided to leave DFDS and instead work as a Management Consultant based in Halmstad. BOLT CONSULTING, founded in 2002 and fully owned by Bo-Lennart is, with his European senior advisory team a major management adviser to the ferry shipping industry. Bo-Lennart has also experience as chairman and board member of several European shipping and travel companies. Finally, Bo-Lennart is the co- founder and organiser of the annual “Ferry Shipping Conference” onboard.
Piotr WASZCZENKO
In 1995 Piotr Waszczenko graduated University of Szczecin, he is Master of Maritime Economy. From the begging of his job career he is related with shipping. During the first year of his work he was vessel operator in Small and Medium Tonnage Operating Department in Polsteam Shortramp Ltd., then he worked in Polish Steamship Co., in Shipping Policy Department (from 2001 as Manager). In 2001-2003 he was also member of BIMCO Documentary Comity. From 2003 to 2007 Piotr has been President and Managing Director of Unity Line. Since February 2007 he is Vice President and Managing Director. He is also President of Shortsea Shipping Network Promotion Centre in Poland. Since youth ferries and passenger shipping has been Piotr’s hobby. He also likes movies (especially Polish) and good cuisine accompanied by nice wines.
Tor WERGELAND
(tor@wergeland.dk)
Tor Wergeland is an independent consultant and also associated senior advisor to MARINTEK, Trondheim. For more than 20 years he was professor in shipping economics at the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration in Bergen, Norway. He also has experience with maritime MBA programs at the Copenhagen Business School and Euromed Management, Marseille. He is co-author of two MBA-targeted text-books – Shipping (1997) and Shipping Innovation (2007).
As senior advisor in MARINTEK Tor Wergeland has been involved in several research projects within the maritime industry. He has his specialties in shipping economics, strategy and innovation, and maritime future studies. He has been writing maritime future scenarios in several projects – like the EU projects EVIMAR, VISIONS, Flagship and OPTIMAR.
Bjarne WOLLMANN
(bjarne@dinamo.no)
Bjarne Wollmann is a partner and former CEO of DINAMO, one of the biggest advertising and communication companies in Norway. He has also been CEO for Ogilvy in Norway and Chairman for Ogilvy in Scandinavia.
Bjarne has been working as marketing and communication consultant for DFDS Seaways for over 30 years. For over 20 years he has also worked for the Danish Tourist Board with the very successful campaign “It`s wonderful to be a Norwegian - in Denmark.”
This campaign is a cooperation between Color Line, Stena Line, DFDS Seaways and the Danish Tourist Board in Norway. Bjarne has won several awards in the marketing industri for this work.
George XIRADAKIS
(george.xiradakis@xrtc.gr)
George Xiradakis graduated from the Nautical Marine Academy of Aspropyrgos. He holds a diploma in Commercial Operations from City of London Polytechnic and an MSc in Maritime Studies from University of Wales.
In 1995 he was the Vice President Of Credit Lyonnais Shipping Group responsible for the Bank’s European shipping finance activities. In 1997 he took over as Deputy General Manager of Head of Shipping for Greece, Middle East and India for Credit Lyonnais group. In 1999 he established XRTC Business Consultants and since then he has been the Managing Director of the Company. XRTC acted as Commercial Representative of the French Banks Credit Lyonnais (up to 2004) and Natixis (up to 2008).
He has also been Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hellenic Public Real Estate Corporation (2004-2006), and the first President of the Hellenic Ports Development Center (HPDC) (2006-2007). He is currently Member of the Board of Directors in Dryships Inc (Listed Nasdaq), Paragon Shipping Inc (Nasdaq), and Ocean Rig ASA (recently delisted from Oslo Stock Exchange). Mr. Xiradakis is also General Secretary of Association of Banking and Shipping Executives of Hellenic Shipping, and member of National and International Shipping Clubs such as HELMEPA, SEEN, International Propeller Club, etc.
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