2021 NAMEPA’s Annual Conference and Awards Program

Joe Hughes, Chairman/CEO & President, American P&I Club

Joe has served as Chairman and CEO of the managers of the American Club, an International Group mutual, for over twenty-five years. Joe also oversees the activities of Eagle Ocean Agencies, Inc., an affiliate of SCB, which operates the Eagle Ocean Marine and Eagle Ocean America insurance facilities. In addition, he is a Director of American Hellenic Hull Insurance Company, Ltd., a Cyprus-based underwriting investment of the American Club. 

In addition to his corporate responsibilities, Joe is Chairman of the North American Marine Environment Protection Association, (NAMEPA), a Director (and former President) of the Maritime Association of the Port of New York and New Jersey and a Director of New York Maritime, Inc. (NYMAR). He also sits on the Classification Committee of the American Bureau of Shipping, the North American Advisory Committee of Lloyd’s Register, and is a member of the National Cargo Bureau. 

An Oxford-educated British barrister by training, Joe spent the first half of his career in the United Kingdom and Norway. Prior to arriving in the United States in 1995, he served as Chairman of the global marine practice of JIB International Ltd., a prominent insurance brokerage owned by the Jardine Matheson Group operating at Lloyd’s of London and across the globe. 

Jonathan Burke, Commercial Manager, RESOLVE Marine

Jonathan Burke is a Commercial Manager for RESOLVE Marine’s global Projects division. Jonathan has over 7 years of Commercial Management experience in the marine salvage industry and has managed the commercial aspects of a variety of complex marine casualties and emergency response projects across the globe.  

Jonathan is responsible for RESOLVE’s Projects division commercial team; responding to tenders and negotiations for Salvage, Wreck Removals, and Marine projects; and maintaining relationships with RESOLVE’s clients and resource partners.  

RDML John Mauger, Assistant Commandant for Prevention Policy, USCG

Rear Admiral Mauger serves as the Assistant Commandant for Prevention Policy, and is responsible for the development of national policy, standards, and programs promoting Marine Safety, Security and Environmental Stewardship. Three Directorates carry out the mission: Inspections and Compliance, Marine Transportation Systems, and Commercial Regulations and Standards. Programs include waterways management, navigation and boating safety, ports and facilities, merchant mariner credentialing, vessel documentation, marine casualty investigation, commercial vessel inspections, and port state control. 

His prior flag assignments include, the Assistant Commandant for Capability, and the Director of Training and Exercises (J7) at U.S. Cyber Command. 

A native of Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, RDML Mauger resides in Arlington, VA with his wife, Leah, and two children.

Jeanne Grasso, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Blank Rome LLP

Jeanne M. Grasso is a partner at Blank Rome LLP and Co-Chair of the firm’s Maritime and International Trade Practice Group.  She counsels vessel owners and operators, charterers, and facilities in connection with regulatory compliance related to the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and other agencies, including related to ballast water, emissions, port-State control, and coastwise trade.  Jeanne handles internal and grand jury investigations and defense of administrative, civil, and criminal enforcement actions; counsels clients on risk mitigation strategies related to environmental incidents; advises on environmental compliance, pollution incident response, and coastwise trade; and conducts training seminars. 

Longji Yiljep, Vice President of Technology, Dorian LPG

Joined Dorian LPG in 2015 as a Corporate Development Analyst, focusing on business and financial analysis. 

Also focused on internal development and fleet optimization projects. 

Holds a BA in Economics from Brown University, and an MSC in Finance from Goldey-Beacom College. 

Thomas J. Franklin, Senior Vice President of Vessel Operations, Fairfield Chemical Carrier

Thomas has been a member of the Fairfield Chemical Carriers Operations team since joining the company in 2004. Today he is the Senior Vice President of Vessel Operations, leading the highly respected Global Operations and Port Captain Teams. Prior to FCC, Thomas sailed as a licensed deck officer on tankers. His time at sea and work as a Chemical Tanker Operator give him an unmatched understanding of the needs of our seafarers and commercial units. In support of the industry, he serves as both the FCC Representative and Treasurer of the International Parcel Tankers Association. Thomas is a graduate of the SUNY Maritime with a B.S. in Marine Transportation. 

Donlad Brown, Senior Associate, Cruise Lines International Association

Donald Brown is Vice President, Maritime Policy at Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) in Washington DC. He develops, presents, negotiates, and implements global industry positions on legislative, regulatory, and policy matters involving security, environmental stewardship and health. He leads delegations to the International Maritime Organization where he represents the global cruise industry during international treaty negotiations and other matters. He is also the designated Secretary to the CLIA Global Committees on Maritime Security Matters and Marine Environment Protection Matters.

Prior to joining CLIA, he served in the U.S. Coast Guard at the rank of Commander. His most recent assignment was to the Office of Maritime & International Law where he provided agency-wide legal counsel to senior officials and federal interagency leaders on transnational maritime threats, with specific expertise in facilitating others to reach agency, national, and international consensus on policy matters. Previous duty assignments include U.S. Northern Command and NORAD, speechwriter and special assistant to the Coast Guard Commandant, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of Florida, Rescue Coordination Center Miami and four years of at-sea experience aboard Coast Guard Cutters ESCANABA (1st Lieutenant) and VASHON (Executive Officer).

Donald is a 1993 graduate of the United States Coast Guard Academy where he earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Government. In 2003 he graduated Cum Laude from the University of Miami School of Law where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Inter-American Law Review. He has also served as a Visiting Professor of Law at the U.S. Naval Academy for Piracy, Maritime Threats, and the Law of the Sea.

Cynthia Hudson, CEO, HudsonAnalytix

Cynthia A. Hudson is CEO and founder of HudsonAnalytix, Inc., a global maritime risk consultancy serving the maritime transportation sector, headquartered in the Philadelphia region in the United States, and with offices across the United States and in Greece, Italy, and the United Kingdom. She is a forward-thinking leader in the industry, providing leadership on risk management challenges within the maritime transportation sector including cyber security risk management for shipping, ports, and terminals.  

In 1986, Ms. Hudson founded what became HudsonAnalytix to provide emergency response, maritime project management, and maritime consulting services to maritime transportation interests; oil and energy, vessel owners/operators and insurers for more than 100 oil and hazardous material response incidents. Ms. Hudson led the firm into maritime security for ports and vessels, providing port vulnerability security assessment work at hundreds of ports and facilities worldwide. In 2016, she expanded the HudsonAnalytix cyber security initiative to design and deliver cybersecurity and cyber risk management solutions to maritime clients and provide cybersecurity expertise to governmental agencies. She has created and spearheaded projects such as CyberLogix and PortLogix, both of which are tools providing tailored cyber threat intelligence to senior port and shipping executives around the world. 

Throughout the maritime transportation industry, she is well-known and highly regarded for her work and contributions in her field. In 2016, Ms. Hudson was honored by the Organization of American States (OAS) Inter-American Committee on Ports with the Maritime Award of the Americas: Outstanding Women in the Maritime and Port Sector. Ms. Hudson serves on a number of Industry Boards such as the American Caribbean Maritime Association and the Maritime Academy High School in Philadelphia. She is President of WISTA Delaware River & Bay Chapter and a Director of the North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA). She has been a speaker, panelist, and moderator at conferences across the globe. 

Jan Hagen Anderson, Business Development Director, DNV

Mr. Andersen has over 30 years of experience in the maritime industry with a focus on propulsion systems and machinery.  He has a MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington and started his career at a marine engineering and service company in Seattle.  He is a Licensed Professional Engineer in Texas and Washington State. 

In 2005, he joined DNV in the Machinery Section of the Maritime Technical Advisory Group based in Norway.  The Advisory group provides consultancy and non-class support services to ship owners, ship yards, manufacturers, designers and other stakeholders.  In 2010 he moved to the DNV office in Houston, Texas and is currently a Business Development Director for DNV GL Maritime, Region Americas.  In this role, he is focusing on alternative fuels, environmental compliance, energy efficiency, and novel technologies in shipping.    

He is a member of the SNAME M-16 Panel on Propulsion Shafting and is on the North America Environmental Protection Association (NAMEPA) Board of Directors. 

Cathie Vick, Chief Development & Public Affairs Officer, Port of Virginia

Cathie J. Vick is the Chief Development & Public Affairs Officer at the Port of Virginia, where she oversees Economic Development, Government & Community Relations, Sustainability and Environmental, and the Maritime Incident and Emergency Response team for the 3rd largest port on the East Coast.   

Prior to her service at the port, she served as Deputy Director for Energy Policy in the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, where she served Gov. Bob McDonnell in implementing energy policy initiatives in the Commonwealth.  Before that, she worked as Director of Government Relations for Virginia Natural Gas, where she handled advocacy, the company’s civic and charitable donations, and its conservation programs. She also advocated on behalf of private companies while with the Vectre Corporation, where she worked with clients from a variety of backgrounds.  

Cathie holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and communication from James Madison University, a law degree from Georgia State University College of Law and a master’s degree in business administration from the College of William & Mary. 

Cathie serves on various Boards, such as Optima Health, the Alliance, TowneBank VB Executive Board, LEAD Hampton Roads and Virginia Clean Cities among others. Ms. Vick has been named by Inside Business as one of the region’s Top 40 under 40 in 2005 and Top Women in Business in 2010. Cathie resides in Virginia Beach with her husband, Kevin, and their four children. 

Dr. Karen Purnell, Managing Director, ITOPF

Dr Karen Purnell is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry with a PhD in Chemical Physics from Bristol.  She joined ITOPF as a Technical Adviser in 1994 and, having found the perfect environment in which to combine her strong principles of science-based decision making, objectivity and service to the maritime community, she moved through the ranks, becoming Managing Director in 2009. During her career with ITOPF, Karen has attended several major oil spill incidents in many different countries including the SEA EMPRESS, in the UK in 1996, the PRESTIGE in Spain in 2002 and the TASMAN SPIRIT in Pakistan in 2003. She has contributed to several environmental damage assessment processes, including the COSCO BUSAN incident in the USA. Prominent amongst her achievements is the expansion of ITOPF's capability to respond to spills of HNS (Hazardous & Noxious Substances). 

In her role as Managing Director her focus is to ensure that ITOPF is recognised as the leading provider of objective technical advice on accidental ship-source pollution through delivery of its five key services.  She is also Chairman of ITOPF's Board of Pension Trustees. 

Andrew Marshall, CEO, Ecochlor

Andrew Marshall joined Ecochlor in 2019 as VP of Business Development before transitioning to the position of CEO. He has been instrumental in reshaping the International Sales Team as well as transforming the core of the Ecochlor business and growth strategy to include product lines and collaborations with other companies offering environmentally sound products. He led the EcoOne™ Type Approval task force, a filterless and hybrid BWMS that recently received IMO Type Approval. 

With more than 30 years’ experience in developing and launching emerging technologies, Andrew is a seasoned executive with a proven track record of international business development.