Message from the President

Important and relevant information and updates in the maritime industry # 8

DECEMBER 21, 2020

Message from the President

Season

’

s Greetings!

The Caribbean Shipping Association wishes for all our members, our staff, our partners and friends a joyful Christmas and New Year. Yes, it has been a most challenging year, but that makes our feeling of satisfaction even greater. We have kept the supply chain open and functional, thereby playing a tremendous role in helping our people of the Caribbean to survive this pandemic.

We are most grateful for the support of our members throughout the year. You are beacons of hope for your territories and the entire region. Not only were you active on the “frontline” but you also continued to support all the programmes of the CSA, embracing the new methods we adopted such as the webinars and virtual conferencing applications. By using the new technologies, we have been able to share vital information and updates which have enabled the CSA to make in-depth contributions to discussions in various critical forums.

My heartfelt thanks go out to our CSA staff for their hard work and innovative approach to navigating the “new normal” which saw us successfully staging our series of webinars throughout the period and our Annual General Meeting in October. Special mention must be made of the dedication of our immediate past general manager, Fernando Rivera and our new General Manager Milaika Capella Ras, and also the usual strong support of our Conference and Operations Manager Dionne Mason-Gordon, Administrative and Training Coordinator Shorna

-Kay Plummer and the enduring assistance of the Shipping Association of Jamaica in the areas of financial accounting and public relations.

The CSA is evolving and we welcome the changes that can make us more relevant, vibrant and effective. As we enter a new year, we recommit to serving our members to facilitate the development of an efficient, viable Caribbean and Latin American shipping industry.

Christmas and New Year are times of much activity in our industry, but I encourage all our members to take a little time to reflect on our achievements of the past year, to give thanks that we were able to be that stable center for our countries and region, and to safely celebrate our successes with our staff and family.

May God continue to guide and bless our efforts in the coming year. Juan Carlos Croston

President

Caribbean shipping providing stable center for regional economies

“We have been that shining beacon of hope for our people by continuing to be the stable centre of the economies of our region during this pandemic,” declared Juan Carlos Croston, President of the Caribbean Shipping Association (CSA), in his closing address at the CSA’s Annual General Meeting that was held virtually from November 16

-19, 2020.

The CSA president told more than 200 online participants in the CSA’s AGM that they are rendering the most vital assistance to the people of the Caribbean by keeping the supply chain open and responsive to vital needs. He stated that “members of the CSA can stand tall” as they celebrate the association’s 50th anniversary this year, because they are “weathering the most devastating storm of modern history, which is COVID-19.”

Open and closed sessions were successfully staged online over the four days of the AGM, including business meetings, election of officers and presentations from keynote speakers on areas of special interest to Caribbean shipping professionals. Juan Carlos Croston and Marc Sampson were returned as President and Vice President respectively and a highlight of the closing session on Thursday, November 19 was a special tribute and presentation to Fernando Rivera upon his retirement from the post of CSA general manager. The new general manager is Ms. Milaika Capella Ras, who previously served as the organization’s deputy general manager. (continue on page 2)

Curaçao Maritime Association (CMAR)

Caribbean shipping providing stable center for regional economies

PRSA Elects First Female President

Changes in shipping

Keynote speaker on the final day of the CSA’s AGM was Lars Jensen, CEO and partner of SeaIntelligence Consulting, whose presentation was entitled: “Liner Shipping: which changes will become permanent”. Jensen is the author of the book “Liner Shipping 2025” focusing on the changes to come in the industry and how carriers, terminals, ports, shippers and forwarders should navigate these changes successfully.

Jensen’s presentation showed that the volatility being experienced in cargo shipping is a result of a dramatic shift in consumer demand, especially in North America, where there is a growing demand for goods over services. He said that in the early months of the worldwide pandemic there was very low demand for consumer goods but there is now increased demand for goods especially by consumers in North America, Europe and the Indian subcontinent. He said that these rapid shifts in demand has led to severe equipment issues in shipping in terms of bottlenecks arising from the placement of empty and full containers which “will take time to unwind”.

With regard to expectations for the near-term future, Jensen said that “demand growth is extremely uncertain as it will depend on shifts in consumer spending (for example, if vaccines end the pandemic in 2020), stimulus packages and inventory changes more than economic fundamentals.” He said that we are now in uncharted territory but predicts long-term positive growth and likely above global average growth for the Caribbean due to supply chain diversification. He said that supply chain diversification ….

PRSA Elects First Female President

The Caribbean Shipping Association (CSA) welcomes the news that Ms. Clarivette Diaz is the new president of the Puerto Rico Shipping Association (PRSA), becoming the first female to lead that organization as it celebrates its 50th Anniversary this year. Ms. Diaz has been a professional member of the PRSA for the past twelve years and has been an active member of its Board of Directors, serving as Treasurer for more than four years. An official statement issued by the PRSA announced that the new board of the PRSA for the 2020-2022 term was elected at its members’ recent biennial meeting. Ms. Diaz, who is Island General Manager in charge of all Operations for Tropical Shipping Company in Puerto Rico, heads the new Board that includes Mr. Jose Francisco Nazario, Senior Director of Crowley Logistics Company, who will serve as Vice President; Mr. Michael Latimer, General Manager of CMA CGM Puerto Rico LLC, who will be in charge of the Treasury Department, and Ms. Gloria Velasquez, General Manager of Oceanic General Agency, who will be Secretary of the organization.

Other members of the Board of the PRSA are: Mr. Eduardo Pagán, VP & GM Caribbean Services of Tote Maritime Puerto Rico, who is the Immediate Past President; Osvaldo Morales, Senior & Sales Manager of Stericycle Puerto Rico, who will be the Representative of Services, and Mr. Ramón Umpierre who will continue as Executive Director.

The Puerto Rico Shipping Association is a valued member of the CSA and consists of more than 35 local companies dedicated to numerous maritime business sectors. Its tasks have expanded to include the representation of its members in various socioeconomic forums, as well as consultants for numerous maritime-related initiatives.

The Caribbean Shipping Association welcomes the new Board of the PRSA, especially their first female Chair. The CSA promotes the inclusion of women at every level of the Caribbean maritime industry and is especially proud of those who achieve positions of leadership.

HudsonCyber Announces Strategic Partnership with the Maritime

Transportation Sector

Tailored Cyber Threat Information Sharing Delivered through the CyberHelmTM platform

Cherry Hill, New Jersey, United States, November 2, 2020 // HudsonAnalytix, Inc., through its cyber risk management division, HudsonCyber, is pleased to announce a global partnership with the Maritime Transportation System Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MTS

-ISAC). HudsonCyber will support MTS-ISAC’s members with preemptive, maritime-specific cyber threat information that will help reduce the risk of cybersecurity breaches through improved situational awareness and management of cyber threats and technical vulnerabilities.

With thousands of ports around the world receiving more than 50,000 commercial vessels making over five million port calls per year, the maritime industry is acutely vulnerable to cyber attackers seeking to exploit vulnerabilities in their interconnected sysetms. CyberHelmTM, HudsonCyber’s enterprise technology solution that protects maritime operators from cybersecurity threats by proactively avoiding them, helps maritime organizations prevent deliberate and non-targeted cyber attacks from infecting and damaging technologies and operating systems. Whether aboard vessels or shore-side, CyberHelmTM detects system vulnerabilities and potentially imminent attacks before they hit. CyberHelmTM delivers a complete analysis and security recommendations related to each asset, no matter the organization's size, the characteristics of its shore-side infrastructure, the diversity of its fleet, or its geographic disposition.

“In adopting CyberHelmTM, MTS-ISAC members will be able to immediately and cost

-effectively access cyber threat information related to their specific operational environment,” said Max Bobys, Vice President of HudsonCyber. “Although many maritime operators are making strides in implementing cybersecurity capabilities, effective and sustained cyber risk management remains a challenge. In today’s hyper-connected environment, where cyber

threats are only constrained by threat actors’ imaginations and successful attacks are measured in seconds, information sharing is critical. In short, CyberHelmTM protects maritime operators from cybersecurity threats by proactively avoiding attacks before they occur.” The MTS-ISAC was formed as a 501(c)(6) nonprofit in February 2020 by a group of U.S.

-based maritime critical infrastructure stakeholders to promote cybersecurity information sharing throughout the maritime community. Industry leaders representing seaports, vessel owners and operators, and terminal operators recognized the need to improve cybersecurity resiliency in their ecosystems. With limited organizational resources, they realized the best approach was to work with trusted MTS peers, including private and public sector partners, to identify, protect against, and detect cyber threats targeting their networks, systems, and people. The MTS-ISAC has quickly expanded its geographic base, and now includes stakeholders in Asia and Europe in addition to those in North America.

Scott Dickerson, the MTS-ISAC’s Executive Director, explained, “We are excited about this partnership with HudsonCyber. Adding the capability that CyberHelmTM offers to the services the MTS-ISAC already provides our stakeholders allows the MTS community to more proactively manage cyber risk. As we have seen with the number of reported incidents impacting maritime stakeholders around the world in 2020, threat actors are taking advantage of maritime stakeholders. Now, our stakeholders can complement the MTS-ISAC’s rapidly shared cyber threat information with a deeper understanding of what infrastructure may have been targeted and is at risk. As our customers seek to build closer relationships across their entire maritime ecosystem, these capabilities can then be leveraged to better secure common infrastructures, interdependencies, and communication paths between owners/operators and their key suppliers, vendors, and service providers. We look forward to collaborating with our stakeholders and HudsonCyber to make this a successful partnership for years to come.”

Meet our New Members of the General Council

Group A Representative

Starting in the shipping industry in 2000 in the humble position of Receptionist at RM Jones & Co. Ltd. agents at the time for CMA CGM while pursuing her CAT/ACCA Accounting qualification Nazilia Simone Phillips fell in love with the shipping industry later moving onto the Consolidations, Exports and Accounts departments of the company with her last position with the company being Senior Accounts Clerk. She later went on to hold the post of Supervisor of Operations at Fast Transit Shipping Co. in 2006, representing CSAV and consolidators from Miami and Trinidad.

In 2011, she joined Norton Lilly Barbados Ltd. as General Manager agents for CMA CGM, MLS (agents for the British Navy), various tankers, consolidators from Miami, Trinidad, Canada and New York. Her present position with the company is Managing Director and sheis currently the Vice President of The Shipping Association of Barbados.

Nazilia holds certificates from Lloyd’s List and is presently venturing to pursue her MBA in Shipping with Middlesex University.

Mark Williams, JP Group B Representative

Mark Williams is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Kingston Wharves Limited (KWL). He joined Kingston Wharves Limited in October 2011 as the Chief Marketing & Planning Officer and later appointed Chief Operating Officer with responsibility for the development and execution of corporate strategy for the KWL Group. Mark has 20 years’ experience in commercial and strategic planning. Prior to joining Kingston Wharves, Mark was Vice President – commercial development,

marketing and planning at The Airports Authority of Jamaica. He held Senior Executive positions at The Shell Company (W.I.) Limited and Shell Antilles & Guianas Limited with responsibility for 10 countries throughout the Caribbean.

Mr. Williams holds a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree from University of Surrey, United Kingdom, a Masters of Philosophy (MPhil) and Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree from the University of the West Indies and Bachelor of Laws degree (LL.B) from the University of London. He is a Certified Port Executive and has completed Executive and Leadership Development programs from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and Columbia University. Mark is a Justice of the Peace for Kingston and serves as Director of Security Administrators Limited and the Shipping Association of Jamaica.

Mark is married to Michelle and they have two adult daughters. Maria del Mar Rodriguez

Group C Chairman

Maria del Mar Rodríguez began her career with Tropical Shipping LLC in 2004 as a sales representative. In 2006 Rodriguez was promoted to Sales Manager for Tropical in Puerto Rico focused on the less than container load market. During 2020 she was promoted to Puerto Rico Island Manager responsible of sales, port operations and finance departments for the island. During 2014 a new challenge was presented to Maria Del Mar and she accepted to take over the Hispaniola Trade Manager responsible for Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic operations. Since early 2019 Maria del Mar became an officer member of Tropical Shipping as she was promoted to Assistant Vice- President responsible for the Hispaniola, USVI and BVI regions.

Prior to joining Tropical Shipping, Mrs. Rodriguez worked for a local U.S. Customs Broker where she managed sales; she was also responsible of J.F. Hillebrand brand focused on wine & spirits intra-Europe consolidations.

Maria del Mar was elected secretary of the P.R. Shipping Association Board of Directors from 2014 until 2020. Most recently in November 2020 she was elected chairman of group C (Ship Owners Group) at the Caribbean Shipping Association.

Maria del Mar has an outstanding commitment to the Caribbean life and is always looking for ways to contribute to the region success.

Robert Bosman Group C Representative

Robert Bosman is Project Development Director of Boskalis for the Americas, based in Panama City, Panama. Mr. Bosman joined Boskalis early 2020. Before that he held various positions within the Maritime and Airline Industry.

After University Mr. Bosman started his career in 1992 on the island of Curaçao for the airline ALM. In 1995 he joined KLM Royal Dutch Airlines in various positions in Revenue Management at its HQ in Amsterdam, responsible for Middle East and Asia Pacific. After a journey in the telecom world (Liberty Media) he returned to his passion transportation & logistics. In 2007, after being MD at the container terminal in Curaçao, he became General Manager Business Development of APM Terminals in Panama, responsible for Latin America.

In 2015 he joined Saam Smit Towage as CCO for their footprint in the Americas. Consequently in 2020 he joined Boskalis in the dredging division for terminals and ports. Mr. Bosman, a Dutch national, finalized Business Economics at the University of

Amsterdam with a major in Transportation & Logistics. Subsequent he followed various management courses in KLM and the Maersk Group. He speaks 5 languages. His hobbies are music and speed cycling.

Congratulations to all the new members that join the General Council, and also the CSA president Juan Carlos Croston, Vice president Marc Sampson, Eduardo Pagan (Group A Chairman), Yuri Jardine (Group A Representative), Ms. Sandra Casanova (Group A Representative), Anibal Ochoa (Group B Chairman), William Brown (Group D Chairman) and JC Barona (Group D representative), who have been reelected for one more year.

Special thanks to: Nathan Dundas, Milaika Capella-Ras, Philip Gray and Tim DiPietropolo for the years of services as members of the General Council.

Shipping Association of Jamaica welcomes new president and

vice president

William Brown, group managing director of Lannaman & Morris (Shipping) Group of Companies, took office as the sole nominee for the post of president of the SAJ at the AGM held on Friday, November 27, at the SAJ's headquarters in Newport West, Kingston.

Brown, in accepting the role of president, said “it is with sincere humility that I take this high seat of service,” adding that he was not daunted by the challenges ahead. He said that he looks forward to the continued support of members as the association progresses in its work in lobbying on behalf of Jamaican shipping interests and as a service provider to the ports.

The new SAJ president is a chartered accountant and certified international trade professional specialising in fraud, inventory logistics, shipping agency forensics, as well as international trade investigations under the auspices of the World Trade Organization. Brown is the chairman of Group D on the CSA’s general council, a member of the board of directors of the Maritime Authority of Jamaica, and chairs the Government's Enterprise Committee for the Privatisation of Jamaica's Ship Registry.

The SAJ also welcomed Corah Ann Robertson Sylvester to the post of vice-president as Grantley Stephenson did not seek re-election for the post. Robertson Sylvester is the chief executive officer of Seaboard Freight and Shipping Jamaica Limited and was the sole nominee for vice-president. Corah Anne was the only CSA female president.

We welcome Curaçao Maritime Association (CMAR)!

The Caribbean Shipping Association takes pleasure in welcoming our newest member, the Curacao Maritime Association (CMAR). Founded on Wednesday, 11 November 2020, CMAR regards itself as “a ray of hope in these uncertain times”, and rightly so!

Now headquartered at Parera Buisness Park, the seed of CMAR was planted during informal networking sessions that took the form of “maritime Palapa drinks” that were initiated by Wilbert Versteeg, Marcel Verspuij and Stephan van Dijk. The “Palapa” drinks arose from a need felt by professionals in the maritime sector to get together, share experiences and to exchange ideas.

In the past six months, the current directors have been meeting regularly to further develop their response to current pressing needs. They are doing so as an association of members who provide national and international maritime services that include ship repair companies, training centers, stevedores, terminal operators, shipping agents, tug & barge operators and others, comprising approximately 30 companies. CMAR will function as a single point of contact, or spokesperson, for its members with government agencies and in the media, including social media channels.

CMAR will also represent its members at forums, conferences and other platforms, adding the voice of the maritime sector of Curacao to discussions. CMAR will support initiatives in the interest of its members that strive for high security, advanced technology, education and training. Furthermore, CMAR will use various platforms to share knowledge and experiences, and to offer education and training.

The board of CMAR and its members are identifying and partnering with other maritime organizations to collaborate in areas that can lead to progress and improvement. CMAR recognizes the island's dependence on security for the import/export sector, and are encouraged that the government takes these issues seriously.

The founding board of CMAR consists of five members:President Johan Stegmeijer, General Manager De Ruyter Training & Consultancy (DRTC); Vice President Lodewijk Franken, Managing Director of Damen Shiprepair Curacao; Treasurer Stephan van Dijk, partner at Nautical Marine Trading & Services (NMTS), Secretary Ronald Hania, branch director of EMAR Offshore Services Curacao, and board member Rob Sint Jago, maritime consultant. Together, they are embarking on the mission to make the maritime network of Curacao stronger by working together more and raising the quality level to the highest standards.

The board is now recruiting new members and showing that they can make a difference as major providers of maritime services on the island of Curacao. They see this initiative as an injection of optimism in these uncertain COVID-19 times as it requires members to collaborate with each other in business and to help where possible.

And those cozy “Palapa” drinks that started it all? “Of course they will continue to exist” –the CMAR members say in unison. They say that it is the basis of their association and that “If the measures on Curacao allow it, we will certainly continue to organize them every quarter, each time with a different theme.”

Mark this event in your agenda! More information will follow soon. See you soon!

Caribbean Shipping Association 4 Fourth Avenue, Newport West Kingston 13, Jamaica

[email protected] www.caribbeanshipping.org