Overview
Navigate Response, a Witt O’Brien’s company, is proud to host our long-awaited seminar in Singapore on 21 July 2022, an event we had to put on hold due to public health restrictions. We look forward to meeting new and familiar faces, our clients and friends, as we share our perspectives on how to manage the increasing complex media landscape and the challenges it presents to owners and managers.
Location and Registration
To register your interest, please write to asia@navigateresponse.com
Thursday 21 July 2022 | Amara Singapore | 1:30pm – 6:00pm
Seminar Agenda
1330-1400 Registration
1400-1405 Welcome Address – Edward Ion
1405-1430 Ever Given Case Study – Dustin Eno
1430-1500 A P&I perspective: How the clubs can assist their members in this era of increasing complexity – Capt Yves Vandenborn
1500-1530 A ship manager’s perspective: how managers can protect and enhance their principals’ reputations – Chris Edwards
1530-1600 Coffee Break
1600-1630 A USA-QI perspective: The Ever Forward incident (Case Study) – Sean Rock
1630-1700 The power and peril of today’s social media and the threat it poses to shipping – Casey Chua
1700-1745 Panel Session – Led by Edward Ion
1745-1800 Closing Remarks – Mike Gallagher
1800-1900 Cocktails
Synopsis
Shipping has never been more in the public and media eye. The issues of decarbonisation, increased regulation and sanctions plus the need for urgent reform have meant the business of owning and operating merchant ships is under virtually constant media and public attention. Gone are the days when the mainstream media’s interest in shipping was sparked only by oil spill or major loss of life. Today’s owners, managers and operators face a wide range of increasingly complex issues which can directly affect their corporate reputation and often their bottom line. These can range from an increasingly hostile media which portrays shipping as a persistent laggard in the efforts to achieve Net Zero, through to terrorism, cyberattack, pandemic and even war. Shipping has been at the epicentre of media coverage and public discussion in all these cases in recent times.
Speakers and Panelists
Capt Yves Vandenborn
Director of Loss Prevention Standard Club
Yves is a Master Mariner and sailed with Exmar Nv. Belgium on chemical/product, LNG and LPG tankers. Since coming ashore in 2003, he has worked as a marine superintendent and an independent marine surveyor involved with ship management, P&I condition surveys, oil major SIRE pre-vettings, TMSA audits, risk assessments, etc. Yves joined The Standard Club’s Singapore office in February 2010 as an in-house marine surveyor and in July 2013 he took over as Director of Loss Prevention for the club globally. He became the Honorary President of the Nautical Institute Singapore branch in 2020.
Dustin Eno
Managing Director Navigate Response
Dustin oversees the operations of our global network of 45 offices and leads our crisis communication team which responds to 200+ incidents a year. He is responsible for our innovation and digitization initiatives, including the development of our rapidly expanding digital training services. Dustin specialises in communications, reputation management and organisational leadership especially in times of challenge or crisis. Dustin has a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences degree (BASc) specialising in leadership and political rhetoric and a master’s degree in communications (MSc) from the London School of Economics (LSE).
Casey Chua
Crisis Response Manager Navigate Response
Casey is Crisis Response Manager based in Navigate Response’s Singapore office where he manages the media response for maritime incidents and delivers crisis media training for our clients. He has advised on numerous incidents involving MARPOL violations, detentions, geopolitical conflicts, kidnap for ransom and hijacking, collisions, contraband, amongst others. Prior to joining Navigate Response, Casey held agency and in-house communication roles in both private and public sector organisations. Casey read political science for his Bachelor of Arts degree at the National University of Singapore and received his Master’s degree in Communication Management from the Singapore Management University.
Chris Edwards
Group Legal Counsel Thome Shipmanagement
Chris is an English qualified shipping and insurance lawyer. He has been in Singapore for the past 26 years and was previously a partner in the Singapore offices of Clyde & Co and Hill Dickinson LLP. In January 2018 he joined the Thome Group as head of legal. The primary business of the Thome Group is as third-party technical ship managers. In his role as head of legal, he is involved in a diverse range of legal matters including contracts unique to technical ship managers.
Mike Gallagher
Senior Managing Director Witt O’Brien’s
Mike leads Witt O’Brien’s transportation sector where he provides compliance, preparedness and response services to more than 800 shipping clients in the US and foreign flag markets. His spill/incident response management work predates OPA-90 and includes the 1989 M/T Exxon Valdez among other significant incidents. He also has significant preparedness/response experience in the public health sector and spearheaded response efforts on behalf of our client USDA to the 2015 avian influenza outbreak.Earlier in his career, he served as Managing Director/CEO of Gallagher Marine Systems (QI services) providing cost controls/audits, ISO-9000 certification, and growth to position it for eventual sale.
Sean Rock
Assistant Managing Director Witt O’Brien’s
Sean joined Witt O’Brien’s 14 years ago after completing eight years of service with the US Coast Guard, much of which was spent as a Port State Control Officer after sailing on a Polar Class Icebreaker where he learned vessel operations first-hand. As an Associate Managing Director of Vessel Services with Witt O’Brien’s he conducts exercises and training with ship owners and operators around the world to assist them in navigating the regulatory complexities of trading in the United States. He earned an MS Environmental Management while in the USCG.
Edward Ion
Managing Director Navigate Response (Asia)
Ed is the Managing Director of Navigate Response Asia. He has led crisis response for a large number of international clients ranging from major shipping casualties to international incidents involving reputational issues for shipowners and managers. Prior to joining Navigate Response, Ed was based first in London and then in both Singapore and Hong Kong with regional Asia-Pacific responsibility for Lloyd’s List and its associated periodicals. During 20 years as a reporter, he wrote about just about every major shipping casualty around the world ranging from the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster, the Exxon Valdez, Piper Alpha, the Erika and many others. In his work as a crisis manager and corporate communications consultant for the maritime sector, he currently handles a wide variety of shipping and maritime clients.
Registration
To register your interest, please write to asia@navigateresponse.com
