MAR-EVA Instructors

Working in Maritime and Environmental industries for the last 20 years has compelled Valerie to focus on improving people’s lives by simplifying the complex world of Maritime Environmental Regulations. She has worked in positions as varied as Fisheries Biologist for NOAA, to Environmental Protection Specialist for the US Department of Defense, to Marine Scientist for Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Currently working on Ocean Guardian, a platform designed to help mariners stay compliant with global environmental regulations, Val is realizing that goal. Valerie has a Bachelors in Biology from the University of San Diego and a Masters in Leadership and Environmental Management from Duke University.

Born in New York, U.S.A., Dorothea obtained her Juris Doctorate from St. John’s University School of Law in New York in 1996 (having already obtained her BA from the City University of NY in 1993) and was thereafter and remains to date, admitted to practice in the state of New York. During the early years of her career, Dorothea worked in medical insurance management, at the Queens County District Attorney’s office, and in private practice of law in NY. After relocating to Greece in 1997, Dorothea initially worked in local law firms and was involved in commercial as well as maritime law. In January of 1998, Dorothea formally entered the Marine Insurance Industry when she joined Allied Insurance Brokers Ltd. to manage the Marine Insurance Claims Department. In 2005, Dorothea joined SCB (Hellas) Inc., the Piraeus Claims Liaison Office for the Managers of the American P&I Club, (Shipowners Claims Bureau Inc., NY) as a Claims Executive and in 2009 took on the claims management as well as general management of the office. The American P&I Club is a mutual marine insurance association and member of the International Group of P&I Clubs and provides third party liability cover for ocean going world-wide trading vessels. In 2010 she became the first woman to be appointed to the Executive Committee of the N.Y. management company, Shipowners Claims Bureau Inc. In 2013 she was given the position of Regional Business Development Director for Europe Middle East and Africa and since June 2015, she holds the position of Global Business Development Director making her the first woman to occupy a top level global executive position in the history of the American Club and its Managers, Shipowners Claims Bureau, Inc.

Dorothea is active in the shipping industry and served on the Board of WISTA Hellas, part of WISTA International, (an international women’s shipping and trade association) for four years as Vice President, currently serves as a board member of the Piraeus Marine Club and is a member of the American Hellenic Chamber of Commerce, the CEO Club Greece as well as the Propeller Club. Most recently she was also appointed as a board member of the American Hellenic Hull Insurance Company, Ltd., a Cypriot registered, licensed, Solvency II compliant marine insurance company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the American P&I Club.

Peg Buchan has worked for Broward County Government for 17+ years, for the past ten as Assistant Port Director at Port Everglades. She is responsible for the Port Strategic Business Plan, coordination of Port legislative affairs, spearheading a Port wayfinding plan, and the selection and installation of $2M in public art. Previously she was the Port’s Director of Business Administration, the County’s Small Business Manager and Interim Director of Real Property. Peg holds a B.S. in Professional Management from Nova Southeastern University, Florida; and a Master’s Degree in Negotiations, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding from California State University, California.

Seren Sapmaz graduated from Tarsus American College with a high degree as a salutatorian. After the graduation from Koç University Law School, she completed her legal traineeship at Istanbul branch of an international law office and continued to work as an associated after she was admitted to Istanbul Bar Association. She completed her LL.M degree at Istanbul Bilgi University with her dissertation on “The Carrier’s Liability on Deviation”

Seren is a member of the legal committee of the Health and Education Foundation (SEV), Soroptimist International (SI) of Etiler, Women International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA Turkey), Turkish Marine Environment Protection Association (TURMEPA), Koç University Alumni Association (KUMED) and Tarsus American College Alumni Association (TACMED). She speaks advanced level English and intermediate level French.

Publications

The Carrier’s Liability from Deviation, 2019 (unpublished LL.M degree dissertation)

Co-author, “A serious obstacle to the implementation of TCC Art. 1352/1-(t): Who is going to be the custodian of the vessel?” December 2016

Areas of Practice

• Maritime Law
• Transport Law
• Commercial Law
• Association Law
• Law of Inheritance

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Shipping is a people’s business and that’s why I love it.
Assets are important but people make the difference!

Akrivi, is the Finance Officer of the Company Efshipping Company S.A. which has been operating in the shipping sector for forty years. She started her career in the industry, entering the company after her postgraduate studies at Cardiff University. She started working for the founder of the company and continues with the second generation of the founder’s family.

She is experienced in bank loan evaluation, shipping market analysis, financial reports, cash flow, budgeting, and Sale and Purchase projects for second hand and new buildings in the bulk carrier and container sector due to her involvement in company’s fleet renewal and development. She is member of the Board of Directors of the vessels’ owning companies and other companies of the group. She has been involved in the implementation of other than shipping projects, in the area of energy and agriculture, diversified companies of the family. She is also the Business Consulting Manager for a company operating by the family in the area of agricultural products.

She holds a MSc degree in International Transport from the University of Cardiff, UK and a BSc in Business Administration from the American College of Greece. She holds a Certificate in Vessel Valuation from the Lloyd’s Maritime Academy and a Professional Maritime Diploma in Economics from the Hellenic Management Center in cooperation with the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers. She has attended a series of seminars in Finance, Sale and Purchase, Chartering, Insurance and postgraduate courses in Finance from the University of Strathclyde

Anna has graduated from the State University of New York Maritime College,and holds both a Bachelor of Engineering in Naval Architecture and a Master of Science in International Transportation Management. She sailed for several years aboard tugs as the Second Mate before coming ashore. She has worked as a Ship’s Agent, Container Terminal Operations Manager, Stevedore and a Navigation Instructor at SUNY Maritime College onboard their Training Ship Empire State. She is currently assigned the position of Operations Supervisor at Port Everglades.

Despina is a Marine Insurance executive specializing in H&M, IV, War Risks, Kidnap & Ransom and ancillary (LOH, MII, CII etc.) covers. She is the head of the H&M department of Aries Marine Insurance Brokers and was part of the executive team who started with the company in 2009.
She was fortunate to combine her academic studies with work experience and has now been in the marine insurance business for almost 20 years working with well-established insurance companies and brokers internationally.
She has gained first-class experience in all aspects of Marine insurance working as Documentation Technician, Underwriting Assistant and Account Executive.
She was also one of the first professionals in the industry to gain insight into maritime security in conjunction with associated Marine Insurance, and an expert in the management of contract, insurance and legal related compliance issues.

Dr Konsta has more than 20 years of international experience in maritime and logistics education, designing and managing undergraduate and postgraduate courses, executive education portfolios, professional development and online courses which has been delivered around the globe at the top maritime centres. Her extensive teaching experience has been gained at various organisations, associations, colleges and universities, lecturing on undergraduate courses in shipping, maritime business and related subjects. She has also developed shipping departments and faculties for Colleges and Universities. Her writing experience includes 30 distance learning books, papers in refereed journals and conferences. She has also served as a reviewer for Maritime Policy & Management Journal and she is currently a reviewer for Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering.

She is the first woman Course Director at Lloyd’s Maritime Academy and the first woman in Greece serving as the Head of the Shipping, Transport & Logistics Department at a College in Greece (which collaborated with a British University offering shipping and logistics undergraduate and postgraduate courses).

Katerina has obtained her Phd from the University of Plymouth, titled as Maritime Policy and The Success of Nations: The case of the Greek flagged Ocean Shipping, being supervised by Professor Michael Roe and Professor Jingjing Xu. She holds a degree in Maritime Business and Maritime Law from the University of Plymouth (UK). Prior to this she studied Business & Finance at North Hertfordshire College (UK). Her postgraduate studies include International Shipping at the University of Plymouth (UK) and Maritime Studies with International Transport at the University of Piraeus (Greece). She has also obtained University teaching qualifications.

Katerina is a member of the Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association (WISTA), the Hellenic Association of Maritime Economists (HAME), International Maritime Lecturers’ Association (IMLA), the Piraeus Association for Maritime Arbitration (PAMA), Association of Greek Women Scientists, and the Chios Marine Club. Since 2018 she is a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the International WISTA.