Patrick Ghata

Associate Director - Financial Services,
DMCC

Patrick Ghata is the Associate Director - Financial Services at DMCC, overseeing the development of DMCC’s financial products and online trade solutions. A trade finance specialist, he drives strategic campaigns to promote Dubai as a leading international Islamic finance hub.

In addition to managing conventional financial products, much of his work is focused on enhancing DMCC’s Islamic finance solutions, including Commodity Murabaha and Salam.

Previously, Patrick led DMCC Tradeflow, where he played a pivotal role in expanding its financial capabilities and strengthening its position in commodity trade finance. He was part of the team that launched the successful DMCC Warehouse Inspection and Ratings Programme in 2013, an assessment procedure that certifies the authenticity and safety of storage operators registered in the DMCC Tradeflow network.

With more than 16 years of experience in international finance and trade, Patrick has held a range of senior positions at DMCC since joining the organisation in 2013. He also oversees the energy sector at DMCC and has been instrumental in the growth of the Energy Club.

Patrick holds a BFA degree from the American University in Dubai.

Yaman Al Hawamdeh

UAE Managing Partner,
HFW

Yaman is the UAE Managing Partner and heads HFW’s Shipping and Logistics team in the Middle East. He has more than 20 years of experience and has acted in a substantial number of cases involving shipping and commercial disputes in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman.

Yaman is highly regarded for his shipping and logistics experience. While he acts in all kinds of commercial disputes including shareholders and commercial agency, his main practice focuses on marine and logistics matters across the Middle East. This includes marine casualties and incidents onboard, in addition to the usual cargo and charterparties disputes.

Yaman also regularly advises on non-contentious shipping and logistics matters including regulatory and contracts issues within the transport sector. He has substantial knowledge of the local legal and regulatory frameworks governing the marine sector across the region. This, together with his disputes background, allows him to act in key regulatory projects within the Middle East.

David Jorbenaze

Global Crude Subject Matter Expert,
ICIS

Dr. Waddah Ghanem Al Hashmi

Board Member,
Emirates Shipping Association

Dr. Waddah is an environmental engineer with over 27 years of experience spanning consulting and the energy sector, where he has held several technical and senior executive roles. He holds dual master’s degrees in science and business administration, is a certified director, and serves on multiple international boards. His research over the past decade has focused on governance, leadership, and the development of high-reliability organisations. As an active board member of Emirates Shipping Association, Dr. Waddah led the pilot edition of the Maritime Leadership Program (MLP24) and is currently leading MLP25.

Tayeb Hassan

Co-Founder,
Nafsi Health

Tayeb Hassan is the Co-Founder of Nafsi Health, the UAE’s first DHA-licensed digital mental health platform, and the driving force behind Nafsi for Maritime, an initiative dedicated to advancing seafarer mental health as a critical component of maritime safety, operational resilience, and business continuity.

Simon Chattrabhuti

Director, H. Clarkson & Co. Ltd. and
Clarksons’ Global Head of Tanker Market Analysis

Simon Chattrabhuti is a Director of H. Clarkson & Co. Ltd. and Clarksons’ Global Head of Tanker Market Analysis. Simon originally joined Clarksons in 1999 before moving to Shell in 2003. Simon subsequently established and led the Tanker Research divisions at Galbraith's Shipbrokers and ICAP Shipping before returning to Clarksons in 2011 in order to lead the Global Tanker Market Analysis team. Simon holds a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford and a Masters' degree in East Asian Studies from the University of Durham. Simon is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers.

John Thompson

Co-Founder and Executive Director,
Ambrey

John is the co-founder and an Executive Director of Ambrey, a global market leader in maritime and offshore security risk management. Established in 2011 Ambrey employs over 200 staff in 8 offices around the world supporting over 1000 deployed security personnel and marine crew. The company operates, owns and charters a fleet of over 30 specialist vessels supporting over 25,000 vessels with their risk, intelligence, salvage, security, crisis and insurance services. As a co-founder, John has led the business commercially from start up, with responsibility for client and market strategy and implementation. John served in the British Army as an Officer in The Parachute Regiment. During his career, he was awarded the Sword of Honour at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and served with UK Special Forces. He has an MA and an MSc from St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford.

Sajith Kumar

Chief Commercial Officer,
Malakut Insurance Brokers

Sajith Kumar is an accomplished insurance executive with more than three decades of experience across UAE, Oman, Kuwait and India. As Chief Commercial Officer, Middle East, at Malakut Insurance Brokers, he leads regional growth and profitability from the firm’s Dubai headquarters, combining deep market knowledge with extensive international leadership experience.

Sajith began his career with insurers, building a strong industry foundation over approximately 10 years before transitioning to insurance broking, where he has spent more than 25 years. His career includes C-suite leadership positions at leading multinational brokers Marsh and Howden, giving him a broad perspective on the industry from both insurer and broker standpoints.

Since joining Malakut in 2026, Sajith has drawn on his global broking expertise and regional business leadership to advance the firm’s commercial ambitions and drive sustainable, profitable growth across the Middle East.

Richard Strub

Partner,
HFW

Richard is a Partner in HFW’s Shipping team, based in Dubai. He also leads the Middle East Commodities practice.

Richard advises ship owners, charterers, P&I Clubs and underwriters in all aspects of shipping and the carriage of goods by sea. He specialises in disputes arising out of charterparties and bills of lading, as well as collisions, groundings and maritime casualties. He also regularly advises clients in relation to ship sale and ship building disputes.

Richard advises commodity traders and producers on all aspects of their business, including in particular physical sale/purchase and transportation. He assists and represents clients in dispute resolution in commodities and freight related matters specialising in energy and bulk commodities.

Richard represents clients in Court and arbitration proceedings in London, the Middle East and Singapore.

Richard also sits as an arbitrator in the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC) and is available to accept appointments.

He also regularly lectures on shipping and trade issues and was the co-author of HFW’s quarterly case law update.

Stefano Zehnder

VP Consulting for Refined Products, Feedstocks and Basics,
ICIS

Nadim Salamoun

Middle East Polymers Expert,
ICIS

Deepika Thapliyal

Deputy Managing Editor, Global Fertilisers,
ICIS

Deepika Thapliyal is Deputy Managing Editor, Fertilizers, at ICIS and is based in London. She has more than 15 years of experience covering the nitrogen sector, with a particular focus on urea. In her current role, she leads daily and weekly urea coverage while managing members of the fertilizers team. She has also contributed to ICIS coverage of nitrates and potash. Before joining ICIS, Deepika spent more than five years as a news correspondent and anchor with NDTV Profit and Newswire18 in Mumbai.

Hussein Nabil

VP Commercial
Fertiglobe