Posted on: 12 January 2022
At the Maritime London 2021 AGM held on the 11 January 2022, Lord Mountevans stepped down as the association’s Chair, with Vice Chair Harry Theochari appointed as his successor.
Commenting on the change in leadership Maritime London Chief Executive Jos Standerwick said:
“Lord Mountevans has been a conscientious and dedicated Chair, a constant source of sound advice and a faultless figurehead for Maritime London both at home and overseas. I would like to thank him sincerely not only for his steadfast commitment to the association but also for the trust he has put in me and all the support he has provided.
“Harry Theochari not only brings great commercial experience, but he is also very well known in the UK and internationally. He has excellent ties within the UK government and, importantly, is passionate about Maritime London and its objectives. I have no doubt he will do a superb job and guide the association through the exciting times ahead.”
Harry Theochari said:
“It is a great honour to be taking the helm from Lord Mountevans. He has achieved so much during his tenure particularly in raising the global standing and profile of Maritime London, our members and, indeed, all the maritime industries of the United Kingdom. I look forward to working with our Chief Executive Jos Standerwick, my fellow directors and the membership at this pivotal time for our Industry as we face the challenges of decarbonisation, new and disruptive technologies and the inevitable legal and regulatory changes and commercial upheavals that will be part of this endeavour.”
Maritime London’s two longest serving directors, Richard Sayer and Peter Ahlås, also stepped down at the meeting and will be replaced on the board by Andreas Bisbas of Tsakos Shipping (London) Ltd and Simon Lockwood of WTW.
Lord Mountevans said:
“Richard Sayer is not only our longest standing board member, he also served with distinction as Chair from 2003 to 2006. Richard oversaw the appointment of Doug Barrow as Chief Executive, during a time when the association was finding its feet. Throughout his tenure as a director Richard has provided sage counsel based on his experience as an admiralty lawyer and as chairman of a leading shipbroking house. He continues to have an unwavering commitment to Maritime London.
“Peter Ahlås is a man of many talents. His professional life, while centred in shipping continues to be wonderfully diverse and as a consequence he has been an invaluable source of knowledge and counsel to the board and to the Chief Executive. Peter is a great adventurer, but whether he is in a yacht in Arctic waters or deep in a Swedish forest, if there is a phone signal, he will always pick up and be ready to help the association. Peter will continues to be a leading member of the Maritime London Officer Cadet Scholarship trustee board.
“Andreas and Simon bring to the board different but complementary skillsets whose expertise and commitment will make them superb additions to the Maritime London board.
“Maritime London is in rude good health. We have an excellent board, with a strong and relevant mix of talents, the membership continues to grow – we introduced eight new members to association last year. We are seeing substantive results from our stakeholder engagement, and I believe our events and webinars provide some of the best content of any events in the industry and as such we continue to promote our members and showcase the unparalleled expertise that exists in the market. I have no doubt the association will go from strength to strength under Harry’s tenure and I look forward to supporting the association in any way I can – albeit from the sidelines!”
ENDS
NOTES:
Maritime London is the industry-led body representing maritime professional services in the UK. Funded by companies and organisations from a wide range of disciplines, Maritime London works to ensure that the UK remains a world-beating location to base maritime related business and to conduct maritime trade.
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Lord Mountevans
Lord Mountevans’ City career began in 1972 as a graduate trainee with the international shipbroker Clarksons. Served as Managing Director Gas 2001-2014.
Jeffrey is an Honorary Life Member of the Baltic Exchange, an immediate Past President of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, a Younger Brother of Trinity House, and an Honorary Captain in the RNR. He chaired the ‘Maritime Growth Study’ for the UK government in 2015. And was Chair of Maritime UK 2014-15. He served 688th Lord Mayor of London 2015-16 and was elected to House of Lords in 2015.
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Harry Theochari
Harry Theochari is a shipping and asset finance lawyer based in London, where he is Senior Consultant at Norton Rose Fulbright. He is experienced in international shipping finance and has wide experience of syndicated facilities, OECD and Export Credit based financings, structured financings, private equity and capital market transactions.
Harry has been named by Lloyd’s List as the most influential shipping lawyer in the world. He has been recognized by Tanker Shipping & Trade as one of the 50 most influential people in the tanker industry, is cited by Chambers Global 2020 as a leading individual for shipping finance and is named by Best Lawyers as a ‘lawyer of the year’, 2021.
He is Chair Emeritus of Maritime UK and sits on the Institute of Maritime Law Advisory Board of the University of Southampton.
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Peter Ahlås
Served as Director and Chairman of HSBC Insurance Brokers, Cyprus, and of HSBC Shipping Services. He is currently a board member of Tide Forsikring, a trustee of Maritime London Officer Cadet Scholarship [Trust], Deputy Chairman of C Solutions, a Director of CSL. Peter is also a board member of JFD Sweden and an advisor to JFD Global.
Peter served in the Royal Swedish Navy and retains a close involvement and interest in naval issues, and is a Fellow of The Royal Swedish Academy of Naval Sciences.
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Richard Sayer
Having spent 40 years at maritime solicitors Ince & Co, including five years as senior partner Richard then chaired shipbrokers Galbraith’s for 7 years, retiring at the end of 2009, followed by two years chairing Navigate Response, the crisis management media specialist. From 1972 to 2003 he was Secretary and then Chairman of the UK Admiralty Solicitors Group. Sometime President of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, Prime Warden of the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights, and a trustee of the Maritime London Officer Cadet Scholarship scheme, he is a Vice President of the Marine Society and Sea Cadets. He was one of Maritime London’s founding committee members in 1999 and a board member from 2002 to 2022.
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Andreas Bisbas
Andreas is a Director of Tsakos Shipping (London) Ltd. He is also on the Members’ Representative Committee of the Britannia P&I Club, a member of the ITOPF Board and Chairs the Insurance Committee of the International Chamber of Shipping, he also sits on Intertanko’s Insurance and Legal Committee. Prior to joining the Tsakos Group Andreas spent 23 years as a marine insurance broker at Lloyd’s.
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Simon Lockwood
Simon has spent the past 30 years working in the marine insurance industry. Joining Willis (now WTW) in 2006, he is Head of Hull and Machinery and Special Risks, working with major international shipping companies to design and place innovative insurance solutions. Simon is Chairman of the Marine Executive Committee of the London and International Insurance Brokers Association (LIIBA).
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Maritime London Directors:
https://www.maritimelondon.com/governance-management.
