Tanker Summit, Annual Tanker Event - 27 May 2025
14 March 2025
Tanker Summit Programme 2025
Session 1:
The New Realities of Tanker Shipping: Adapting to trade wars, sanctions and global geopolitics
The tanker industry operates at the intersection of commerce and geopolitics. Nowhere is this more evident than in the transport of oil, chemicals, and gas, where shifting state alliances, trade wars, sanctions, and security threats can disrupt supply chains and impact vessel operations.
This panel will explore geopolitical flashpoints affecting tanker shipping, the implications of sanctions regimes on trading routes and patterns, and the evolving regulatory landscape. With insights from industry leaders and policy experts, this session will provide a timely assessment of the risks and opportunities facing the tanker sector in an increasingly volatile world.
Session Moderator:
Julian Bray, Editor-in-Chief, TradeWinds
Opening Presentation
Oddmund Føre
Partner
Head of Shipping & Offshore Markets
Supply Chain Research
Rystad Energy
Panel:
Lars H. Barstad
Chief Executive Officer
Frontline Management
Svein Ringbakken
Managing Director
Den Norske Krigsforsikring for Skib
Torunn Biller White
Chief Risk Officer
Managing Director
Gard Oslo
Gard AS
Takashi Nakabe
President
Onomichi Dockyard
Michelle Sanders
Alternate Permanent Representative of Canada to the International Maritime Organization
High Commission of Canada
Session 2:
Reflecting on 55 years of change: INTERTANKO and the tanker industry since 1970
This session provides unique insight into the role INTERTANKO has played since its founding in 1970. It is followed by an on-stage interview with the new INTERTANKO leadership, drawing on the geopolitical narrative of the Summit and looking at how the industry and INTERTANKO continue to evolve and adapt into the future.
Presenter and Moderator:
Stig Tenold
Professor, Vice Rector for Academic Affairs
NHH Norwegian School of Economics
Commentators:
Rolf Westfal-Larsen Jr
Chief Executive Officer
Westfal-Larsen Management
Chairman, INTERTANKO
Tim Wilkins
Managing Director
INTERTANKO
Session 3:
Stormy Seas, Steady Hands: Building a Resilient Maritime Workforce in a World of Geopolitical change
In an era of escalating geopolitical tensions, seafarers face unprecedented challenges directly impacting their safety, welfare, and ability to carry out their vital role in global trade. From piracy and armed robbery in the Strait of Malacca and the Gulf of Guinea to the threat of navigating through the Red Sea amid regional conflicts, the maritime industry must grapple with an evolving security environment that endangers vessels and crew. At the same time, the human element of shipping—recruitment, retention, and the overall well-being of seafarers—face new pressures, such as constant internet connectivity exposing them to problems at home they cannot resolve from afar, uncertainty around shore leave, and mounting mental health concerns—all compounding the demands of an already challenging profession.
The panel will discuss how the industry can better protect seafarers in high-risk zones while ensuring the uninterrupted flow of global trade, shipowners evolving role and responsibilities and the role flag states and unions play in safeguarding crew members' physical and mental well-being.
As recruitment challenges persist, the panel will shed light on how to continue to make seafaring an attractive and sustainable career in an era of increasing risk and share insights into strategies, solutions, and collective responsibilities necessary for a resilient and secure maritime workforce.
Moderator
Dr Phillip Belcher
Marine Director
INTERTANKO
Panel:
Isabelle Rickmers
Founder & CEO
TURTLE GmbH
Carsten Brix Ostenfeldt
COO
Anglo-Eastern
Venetia Kallipolitou
Chair, Human Element in Shipping Committee (HEiSC)
HR & Training Manager
Tsakos Shipping and Trading
Jo Even Tomren
Chief Executive Officer
Norwegian Training Centre
Session summary and perspectives: Edwin Lampert, Executive Editor, Riviera Maritime Media
