Category Archives for "Contributors"

Yeontae Kim

Executive Vice President Technical Division,
Korean Register

Mr Yeontae Kim is a naval architect. He acquired his master degree at World Maritime University in Sweden and his bachelor degree at Ulsan University. He joined the Korean Register in 1989 and worked on various assignment, i.e. energy efficiency, hull structure, stability, loadline, international convention, new construction survey, survey of ship in service.

He is currently the executive vice president in charge of technical division at Korean Rehister head office.

Maria Carolina Romero Lares

Associate Professor; Head of Maritime Law and Policy
World Maritime University

Dr. Romero has been a member of the Faculty of Law at the World Maritime University since 2011 and currently serves as the Head of the Maritime Law and Policy Specialization. She received her Law degree from the Andrés Bello Catholic University in Venezuela and an LL.M. degree from Tulane University in the U.S. before earning a Ph.D. with honors (cum laude) from Leibniz Universität Hannover in Germany.

Dr. Romero’s academic career began in 2005 when she joined the Venezuelan Maritime University as a part-time professor. In addition to her teaching duties, she served as Coordinator at the International Affairs Office of the Venezuelan Maritime Administration. She later became the Head of that office and represented her country at several international meetings at the International Maritime Organization and the International Oil Pollution Funds in London.

With firsthand professional experience both as a delegate at international forums representing her homeland and in the classroom, Dr. Romero brings a unique perspective to the Maritime Law and Policy Specialization. She lectures on International Organizations and Maritime Conventions, the Law of the Sea, and the Protection of the Marine Environment and oversees these courses. In addition, she organizes the annual Moot Court Competition, which focuses on current issues of the Law of the Sea, along with a field study trip to The Hague and Hamburg. She has also been invited to lecture at the IFLOS Summer Academy at ITLOS in Hamburg, Germany.

Dr. Romero places great importance on cooperation activities with Latin America and the Caribbean and has already organized two regional conferences there: the “Maritime and Port Sectors in the Americas: Challenges and Opportunities in Light of the SDGs” conference in Lima, Peru in 2017 and the “Second Regional Conference: Maritime Transport and Ocean Policies: Regional Perspectives for the Americas” in Veracruz, Mexico in 2019.

Dong-Wook Song

Dong-Wook Song is Republic of Korea Chair and Professor of Maritime Economics and Logistics at the World Maritime University, Sweden. Prior to the current post, he worked at Edinburgh Napier and Heriot-Watt University in the UK, and Hong Kong University. He holds a BA(Hons) with First Class in Shipping Management from Korea Maritime University, an MSc in International Shipping and Logistics, and a PhD in Maritime Economics and Logistics from the University of Plymouth, UK. He also attended an Industrial Economics Course at the London School of Economics.

Professor Song has received a number of academic awards including ‘The Maritime Policy and Management Award for the Best Paper’ at the International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME) Annual Conferences in 1999 and 2001; ‘The Best Paper Award’ at the Asian Association of Shipping and Logistics in 2008; and ‘The Best Paper of the Year 2009’ at the “International Journal of Logistics Research and Application”. He is a Chartered Member of The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), and has held a number of visiting posts at the Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia; the University of Reading, UK; BEM Bordeaux Management School, France; the University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago; Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai Maritime University, and Dalian Maritime University China; University of Antwerp, Belgium; and University of Agder, Norway.

He is currently an Editor-in-Chief of “WMU Journal of Maritime Affairs”, a former Associate Editor (2011-2018) of “Maritime Policy and Management”, and sits on editorial boards at highly regarded transport and logistics journals. He has worked as a consultant for a number of private and public organisations including the UN, OECD, ADB and World Bank. Professor Song served IAME, a premier academic association in the field of maritime transport and logistics, as an elected Council Member for twelve years (2004-2010; 2012-2018), being among the longest serving Council Members for the Association.

One of his co-authored papers in 2006 is recently enlisted by Google Scholar (2017) as a classic paper in the entire field of transportation. In addition, an article in “Transport Reviews” (2013) shows that his works in port research are highly ranked – among the top listed over the last three decades (1980-2009). Another article in “Maritime Policy and Management” (2013) lists his two papers, published in 2003 and 2002, are among the top 30 most cited papers over the whole forty-year-history of the journal (1973-2013). His prolific-but-impact-bearing-refereed publications are a product from his keen interest in managerial and strategic aspects of global shipping, port and logistics. See Citation Index for more of his research works.

Raphael Baumler

Raphael Baumler holds a Ph.D. in Risk Management and focuses his academic work on the impact of the vessel’s socioeconomical environment on safety and environment.

Primarily educated as a dual officer, he has worked on various types of vessels. Dr. Baumler spent 20 years in a seafaring career. He ended this occupation after six years as Master on a large container ship. His sea life drove him to work as Staff Captain on a cruise ship, and he completed various assignments as dual Junior Officer on board container ship, ferry, VLCC and supply vessel.

He participates or leads IMO national and regional workshops on MARPOL Annex VI and Ballast Water Management Convention.

He conducted various IMO projects and participated in several other research projects.

Kiki Larsen

Academia & Funding Manager
Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping

Dr. Kiki Larsen is heading the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping (the Center) strategic collaboration with academia. In addition, as Academia & Funding Manager her role is the continuous development of the Center stakeholder landscape and implementation of funding activities. Prior to joining the Center in 2022, she worked ten years in the chemical industry in various roles within strategy, business development and technical service. She holds a MSc and PhD in chemistry from the University of Copenhagen and is the silver medal winner for her University of Copenhagen Prize Thesis. Furthermore, she graduated her MBA in finance from the University of Nottingham Malaysia with distinction. She currently serves on the advisory board of the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) Maritime Centre. 

The Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping is real climate action. It is a not-for-profit, independent research and development center looking to accelerate the transition towards a net-zero future for the maritime industry. With Partners, the Center drives collaborative research, development, and innovation, and offers a safe space for collaboration that unites players across the maritime value chain behind a shared mission. The Center consistently assesses and guides the industry transition journey and is recognized as a change leader and knowledge hub for maritime decarbonization. The Center seeks to influence global, regional, and national decarbonization strategies and push for the needed policies and regulations, such as the reduction of all GHG emissions from a well-to-wake perspective and to reach net zero by 2050.

Nancy Karigithu

Principal Secretary
State Department for Shipping and Maritime

Mrs. Nancy Karigithu, CBS is the Principal Secretary of the State Department for Shipping and Maritime, the State Department charged with responsibility for promotion of the Maritime and Shipping Industry in Kenya. She holds a bachelor’s degree in law and a Master’s degree in International Maritime law from the IMO International Maritime Law Institute, Malta. 

Prior to joining the State Department, Mrs. Karigithu worked at the Kenya Maritime Authority as Director General for nine (9) years. She has previously served as the Chair of the Technical Cooperation Committee of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for two (2) terms.  Currently she sits on the Boards of Governors of the World Maritime University (WMU) based in Malmo, Sweden and the IMO International Maritime Law Institute based in Malta. 

She was involved jointly with IMO, in the setting up and launch of the Association of Women in the Maritime Sector in Eastern & Southern Africa (WOMESA), where she served two terms as Chairperson and now sits on the governing council.  WOMESA is a first regional body which brings together women professionals in the maritime sector of 26 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Before her present appointment Mrs. Karigithu was working as a legal expert for the European Union (EU) project, Critical Maritime Routes, aimed at enhancing maritime situational awareness in the Indian Ocean. 

Mrs. Karigithu was bestowed with an Honorary Fellowship by the World Maritime University, in recognition of her distinguished service to the international maritime industry, and recently appointed by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Kenya as Ambassador and Special Envoy for Maritime and Blue Economy in Kenya. 

Jens-Uwe Schröder-Hinrichs

Vice-President (Academic Affairs) and Professor
World Maritime University

Professor Jens-Uwe Schröder-Hinrichs is Vice-President (Academic Affairs) of the World Maritime University (WMU), a university established by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a specialized agency of the United Nations.

He oversees and directs the development of the academic agenda and related activities to strengthen the academic profile of the University, and is responsible for the academic developments needed to keep WMU as the global centre of excellence in maritime and ocean education, research and capacity building. In this, he is supported by a wide range of experience gathered over two decades, during which he has taken on increasingly responsible academic and managerial roles at WMU.

Professor Schröder-Hinrichs is an internationally recognized maritime safety expert with special emphasis on the implementation and enforcement of the legal instruments of the IMO, the parent body of WMU. Professor Schröder-Hinrichs has been involved for more than 20 years in numerous capacity-building missions during which he advised IMO member State administrations in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and Northern America as well as the Black Sea and Caspian Sea areas on issues related to their international obligations under various instruments of the IMO.

In recent years Professor Schröder-Hinrichs developed a strong interest in the implications of increased levels of automation and new technologies in maritime transport. He was the principal investigator for “Transport 2040: Automation, Technology, Employment – The Future of Work”, which was commissioned by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and launched in 2019.