Marine Innovation Summit 2023

Tom Erixon
President and CEO, Alfa Laval AB
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Tom Erixon is the President and CEO of Alfa Laval AB since 2016. Tom has previously held various leadership positions, including the President and CEO of the Ovako Group, President of Sandvik Coromant and several senior positions in Sandvik. In the 90s, he worked at Boston Consulting Group and became the Managing Partner and Practice Leader of Industrial Goods. 

Tom holds a Master of Law degree from Lund University, Sweden and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from IESE Business School, Spain. 

Sameer Kalra
President Marine Division,  Executive Vice President, Alfa Laval Group
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Sameer Kalra is the President of the Marine Division at Alfa Laval AB since 2019 and a member of Alfa Laval’s Group Management.

Sameer has been a part of Alfa Laval since 2011 and has held different senior management positions within the Alfa Laval Group, including President of the Business Unit Pumping Systems (Framo). Prior to joining Alfa Laval, he was the Group Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Aalborg Industries.

Recently, Sameer was featured on 'Lloyd's List of Top 10 technology leaders 2022' for embracing new technology in the maritime sector.

Sameer holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Chicago, USA and is a Graduate Marine Engineer from the Directorate of Marine Engineering and Training, India.

Johannah Christensen
CEO, Global Maritime Forum
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Johannah Christensen is the Chief Executive Officer and the co-founder of the Global Maritime Forum, an international not-for-profit organization committed to shaping the future of global seaborne trade to increase sustainable long-term economic development and human wellbeing. Ms. Christensen has extensive experience in international project management with a focus on sustainable development, business development, and innovation. Throughout her career, she held managerial roles in non-profit organizations in Copenhagen and Geneva, building successful public-private partnerships and helping businesses address global challenges. Before establishing the Global Maritime Forum, Ms. Christensen worked as a Head of Development for the Danish Maritime Days. She was also a Project Director at the Scandinavian think tank Monday Morning, and Program Manager at the World Economic Forum. Ms.Christensen holds a Master's degree in Economics and Business Administration from Copenhagen Business School, Denmark. 

Allan Nygård Bertelsen
CEO, Hydro Hull Cleaning
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Allan Nygård Bertelsen is CEO of Hydro Hull Cleaning, having joined the company in 2022. Allan has previously held senior positions with Copenhagen Subsea, developers of silent subsea thrusters, Atlas Hydrographic, a hydrographic and oceanographic systems company with products and solutions for marine applications, and Atlas Maridan, developers of autonomous underwater vehicles. Allan has a demonstrated history of leading technology-based industrial companies with responsibilities in managing sales & negotiation, innovation management, business development, and R&D. 

Allan holds a MBA, Master of Management of Technology and Master of Science degree in Robotics, Automation Engineering, Control Technology and Unmanned Systems from the Technical University of Denmark. 

Mikael Skov
CEO, Hafnia

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Mikael Skov is the CEO of Hafnia, one of the largest global product tanker companies, listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. He was the co-founder and the CEO of Hafnia Tankers, a global shipping company involved in the transportation of refined oil products. He has more than 35 years of experience in the shipping industry. He is a board member of Clipper Group Ltd and was an industry  representative  of  the  Danish  Maritime Strategy Team established by the Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs.

He is the co-chair of the All Aboard Alliance, which has been established to increase focus on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion within the Maritime Industry.

Prior to establishing Hafnia Tankers, Mikael worked 25 years in Torm, an international product tanker and bulk carrier company, of which he served two years as the CEO.

Mikael graduated in Economics and Language from Copenhagen Business School and has attended the International Executive Programme at Insead.

Henk Jan Gerzee
CPO, Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA)
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Henk Jan Gerzee is Chief Product Officer for Digital Container Shipping Association, responsible for furthering its shipping industry digitisation plans. Prior to joining DCSA, Henk Jan served as Chief Digital & Innovation Officer for the Royal Schiphol Group where he was responsible for the transformation of Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport into the world’s leading digital airport.

Previously, Henk Jan served as Chief Digital & Information Officer for Dorel Juvenile and held other executive positions at Elsevier and AirFrance-KLM, where he also led the global roll-out of e-tickets.

Henk Jan holds a master’s degree in Business Economics from University of Groningen in the Netherlandsand the Copenhagen Business School.

Martin Stopford
Economist & Industry Expert, Executive Director, Marecon Ltd

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Martin Stopford is a graduate of Oxford University and has a PhD in International Economics from London University. Over 50 years in the Maritime Industry he held positions as Director of Business Development at British Shipbuilders; Global Shipping Economist, Chase Manhattan Bank N.A.; Chief Executive, Lloyds Maritime  Information Services; Managing  Director, Clarkson Research; and Executive Director, Clarksons PLC.

Martin Stopford retired from  Clarksons PLC in 2012  and  Clarkson Research in 2021. He is now running MarEcon Ltd, which he founded in 1997 to support maritime education. Its publications include  “Maritime Economics” 3rd Ed  (2009), now translated into Japanese, Greek, Brazilian Portuguese, Korean and Turkish.  Also, many papers on shipping  economics and  ship finance. The company website www.mLecs.com provides a wide range of study material for lecturers, students and newcomers to the maritime industry, available on PC or smartphone.

Dr. Stopford is visiting professor at the Bayes Business School, London; Newcastle University; and has an honorary doctorate from Solent University, UK. He received the Chojeong Book Prize (2005); Lloyds List  Lifetime Achievement Award  (2010); Seatrade Global  Shipping Personality of the Year (2013); The Onassis Prize for Shipping (2015); and the Capital Link Shipping Leadership Award (2016).

Stefan Bülow
Executive Board Director, BIMCO & Chairperson BIMCO Marine Environment Committee 
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Capt. Stefan Bülow works as a Shipping Executive and Ship Owner in the maritime industry, working closely with ship managers, organizations and class societies. He also serves as Executive Board Director of the largest world shipowners organization BIMCO and is Chairman of the BIMCO Marine Environment Committee.

His 40 years of experience in this industry have been compiled through executive management positions over the past 19 years and hands-on work at sea during the preceding 21 years.

Karsten Borneman
Head of Sales, Propeller & Aft ship, MAN Energy Solutions
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With a background as a mechanical engineer, Karsten Borneman has worked at MAN Energy Solutions (MAN ES) for 29 years in project engineering as well as sales and sales management.

For several years with the world-wide sales responsibility of complete propulsion solutions formerly offered out of the MAN ES production facilities in Frederikshavn, Denmark - covering both low-speed two-stroke engines and medium speed engines as main propulsors in packages with CP propeller and controls.

Since 2011, the Propeller and Aft Ship Solutions have been a separate business area within MAN ES – where Karsten Borneman is heading worldwide sales of the complete MAN ES propeller portfolio.

Christoph Thiem
Deputy Head of Strategic Asset Projects, Hapag Lloyd
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Christoph Thiem joined Hapag-Lloyd in 2018. He is Deputy Head of Strategic Asset Projects, a technical department responsible for retrofit and newbuilding projects as well as related research activities. Before this, he was scientific associate at Hamburg University of Technology focusing on simulation and life-cycle-assessment of onboard energy systems for ships in his PhD thesis. 

Steen Sander Jacobsen
Technical Director, NJORD, Maersk Tankers
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Steen Sander Jacobsen is the Technical Director of NJORD, a collaboration of Maersk Tankers, Cargill and Mitsui that aims to accelerate cost effective and industry-wide greenhouse gas reductions by making existing vessels more fuel efficient. NJORD helps customers determine and implement their fleet’s savings potential by assessing, designing, and installing green tech packages using multiple technologies working in combination.

Steen, a shipping industry veteran, has more than 30 years’ experience with Maersk and has been responsible for driving results through innovation in areas of fuel efficiency, new building supervision and retrofits, among others. A team builder and collaborator, his key roles have included Head of Fleet Technology, Head of Cost Leadership and Fuel Optimization, while also having sailed as chief engineer on all types of Maersk oil and chemical tankers.  

James Helliwell
Technology Project Engineer, Shell Shipping and Maritime
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James Helliwell is a chartered marine engineer in the Innovation and Technology Implementation group of Shell Shipping and Maritime. He is focused on the delivery of technologies to accelerate the adoption of hydrogen as a marine fuel and cargo. He leads several projects focused on the delivery of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells and related technologies for commercial shipping. He also leads Shell Shipping and Maritime's research into hydrogen hazards and liquid hydrogen thermodynamics.

Prior to joining Shell, he worked as an engineer for NanoSUN, a UK start-up developing pressurised hydrogen refuelling systems for hydrogen mobility applications.