Meet our speakers
Dr. Akanksha Batura Pai is Executive Director of Sinoda Shipping Agency, Strategy Head at Raks International and Director of Seamind Blue Ocean, leading digitalisation, talent growth and sustainable strategies in maritime services. An IMO Goodwill Maritime Ambassador Emerita, she serves on the Singapore Shipping Association Council, is a Mission to Seafarers, WISTA and Maritime SheEO Ambassador, and mentors start-ups through PIER71. She led Sinoda to become Singapore’s first FONASBA member and sits on its Education & Quality Committee. Ranked #1 in the 2025 Top 100 Women in Shipping, Akanksha also serves as Liaison Officer for the Consulate-General of Malta and holds multiple global industry awards.
Alexis Chee is the Managing Director of Divetech Offshore, overseeing the company’s strategic direction, operational performance, and commitment to safety. He and his team have driven the firm’s transformation from a civil and ship husbandry contractor in Singapore into a regional subsea provider for the offshore energy sector.
He previously served as Chairman of the Commercial Diving Association Singapore (CDAS) and was a member of the Workplace Safety and Health (Marine Industries) Committee, where he collaborated with government agencies on policy development, industry consultation, and regulatory initiatives.
Alexis is a qualified Chartered Accountant (Singapore) and Chartered Global Management Accountant. He also holds a Specialist Diploma in Workplace Safety and Health and is a certified commercial diver.
Dr Noor Amila Bt Wan Abdullah Zawawi, is the Senior Director of Technology Research Excellence (TREx) at Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP), and an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering. A Chartered Energy Engineer in Energy Institute UK, and a Professional Technologist, she holds a PhD in Built Environment from IIUM and has over two decades of experience in offshore engineering and construction management.
Recognised as a leading authority in offshore decommissioning, sustainable asset management, and low-carbon construction technologies, Dr Amila has spearheaded numerous high-impact research and consultancy projects with PETRONAS and international collaborators. Her notable contributions include the development of the Predictive Analysis Decommissioning Asset Management System (ADAMS) and the Reefing Index. She has also been instrumental in fostering academia-industry collaboration through the Industry Meets Academia (IMA) platform, a strategic initiative with PETRONAS to align research with industry needs.
With over 100 scholarly publications and extensive experience in training and consultancy, Dr Amila has successfully managed more than USD 60 million in research funding as Senior Director TREX. She continues to play a vital role in shaping national and international standards and policies in the energy sector, particularly in offshore structures decommissioning.
• Diving Manager Boskalis Subsea Services
• IMCA DDMC Vice Chair
• IMCA C&T Diving representative
Over 44 years in diving operations, safety management, industry leadership, offshore / onshore management, and DSV new builds.
Project lead for operational design and functionality of automated diving systems and competency frameworks.
Diving TA for dive system operations, development and approval of industry leading SOP/EOP's and diving risk identification through Bowtie software.
Involvement in multiple R&D projects for short term and long-term health of saturation divers, human factors and devoloping digital diving data logging and reporting systems.
Azfar is the Operations Manager at Alam Maritm, specializing in offshore subsea projects.
He has extensive experience in ROV, diving, and subsea intervention operations, with
expertise in project planning, contract management, stakeholder engagement, and risk
mitigation. Azfar is recognized for leading multidisciplinary teams to deliver complex subsea
operations safely, efficiently, and in compliance with HSE and industry standards
Bill joined IMCA in November 2021 and has 25 years of experience in the commercial diving industry.
Prior to joining, Bill spent 12 years at the Health & Safety Executive in the UK regulating the safety of divers working in the offshore energy and other sectors of the diving industry. During his time at the HSE, Bill also worked as a decommissioning specialist.
Bill worked as an air and saturation diver on a wide range of diving projects and also held a variety of topside positions, including project engineer and project manager.
He holds a BSc (Hons) in Geography; an MSc in Marine Resource Management; and an MSc in Decommissioning.
In January 2024 Bill was promoted to Diving Manager.
Chua holds a Masters Degree in Offshore Technology and Subsea Engineering with National University of Singapore and is a Chartered Engineer (CEng) with UK Engineering Council. He has 15 years of experience in the oil & gas and renewables energy sector, working across Asia Pacific region. He started off as a client representative for new-built vessels and offshore structures, and subsequently moved to offshore/subsea Transportation and Installation (T&I). He spent the last 7 years with Fugro, moving from project management to commercial team. In his most recent role as Business Development Manager, he works with clients to understand their project requirements, thereby crafting the most commercially and technically sound proposals to clients. Chua has a keen interest in promoting new technologies and helping clients to embark on the journey of adopting new technologies to execute their projects in a safe and cost-effective manner, which at the same time minimizes operational carbon footprint.
Bio tba
Debbi is the Executive General Manager Sustainability for Cyan Renewables. This portfolio includes HSEQ, risk management, sustainability, compliance and overall accountability for the company’s internal and external assurance programs.
Debbi previously held the same role within MMA Offshore Limited, prior to the acquisition by Cyan Renewables in 2024.
Debbi has a Master in Business Administration, is the Chair of the International Maritime Contractors Association (IMCA) HSS Core Committee and is a member of the IMCA Asia Pacific Regional Committee.
Ellie heads up Vanguard’s Intelligence department and the team of analysts, overseeing products and directives which ensure timely identification, coordination, and response to both current and future client risks. Ellie is responsible for delivering expert risk analysis; for creating new products to meet the ever-changing needs of clients; for guaranteeing that the Digital Platform is continuously populated with a variety of risk datasets; and for ensuring accurate, and reliable intelligence reports across the team.
Prior to joining Vanguard, Ellie has extensive experience working for several leading companies in the risk management sector, including those with a focus on maritime. She has practice of working on active kidnap-for-ransom/political detention crises, and has produced analysis and bespoke written pieces for a wide range of countries in North and West Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Ellie holds an MA in Intelligence and Security from the University of Leicester and a BA (Hons) in International Relations from the University of Birmingham.
Dr Kenneth Gerard Pereira is the Founder and Managing Director of Hibiscus Petroleum Berhad, Malaysia’s first listed independent oil and gas exploration and production company. He listed Hibiscus Petroleum on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia on 25 July 2011.
Dr Kenneth has 35 years’ experience in the upstream oil and gas industry in the services as well as the exploration and production sectors. He began his career with Schlumberger Overseas in 1983. He joined the Sapura Group in 1990, and in 1997, was appointed Vice President of Energy Sector Projects where he initiated the building of the oil and gas services business.
He holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Engineering from the University of Bath, United Kingdom, an MBA from Cranfield University, United Kingdom and a Doctorate in Business Administration from the University of South Australia, Australia.
Grant 'Axe' Rawlinson is a world class human-powered explorer and team decision-making coach. From the street level to the boardroom, international 7-aside rugby player to over 50 expeditions across the
globe including walking across countries, cycling across continents, climbing Mt Everest and virgin mountain peaks, swimming around islands, flying off mountains to crossing many sea's completely by human-power, Axe dedicates his life to the pursuit of Bold, Unique Goals.
A native of New Zealand, Axe is based in Asia, holds Bachelor and Post Graduate degrees, is a Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation (ICF), a professional member of the Asian Professional
Speakers Association (APSS) and chair of the Royal Geographic Society (Singapore branch). Grant is happily married to the beautiful Stephanie whom he shares the joy of raising twin explorer's, Kate and Rachel.
Iain has over 40 years’ experience in offshore marine construction around the world. He spent the early part of his career engineering and managing the installation of major offshore infrastructure before moving into commercial and strategy roles with tier one contractors.
He is a chartered engineer and has an MBA. He is a past President of IMCA and was previously supporting IMCA in expanding its position in offshore renewables.
On 1 June 2023, Iain became the new CEO of IMCA.
Jason has over 30 years of multi-discipline work experience in the Oil & Gas and Civil/Marine Infrastructure sectors obtained in the UK and India, as well as in South East Asia.
He has worked for engineering consultants, leading EPC contractors and offshore service providers. In the last 25 years, his focus on the South East Asia market has enabled him to develop a unique niche of bridging gaps and positioning international companies in this region.
Prior to joining IMCA in 2022, Jason was Area Manager at Boskalis Offshore, responsible for the business development of their suite of offshore services including the decommissioning of offshore assets in the region.
Mary began her career in the oil and gas industry developing, implementing, and managing environmental management programmes for projects in Angola, Egypt, Turkey, the Middle East and the UK.
Most recently she was involved in the development and application of net zero sustainability strategies and the application ESG frameworks on major projects in the UK.
Mary is a chartered environmentalist with the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA), She holds a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry, a Master of Science degree in Pollution and Environmental Control from the University of Manchester, and most recently a certification in Business Sustainability Management from the University of Cambridge.
Monica Th. Bjørkmann has more than 25 years’ experience in the industry. She is currently SVP for Health, Safety, Security and Environment in the Subsea7 group. Monica has had many roles within the company and has been working in Norway, UK and Australia. Her background is in economics and strategy studies from University of Stavanger and Aalborg University.
Monica has been Chair of Offshore Norge for 5 years and SVP/VP for Subsea7 in Norway for 10 years. She has also been a member of the KonKraft Council (Collaboration arena for the Norwegian energy industry) and NHO supervisory board (The Confederation of Norwegian Enterprises).
Peter Burger has been seconded by Fugro, the world’s leading geo-data company, to UNESCO-IOC in Paris, where, among other tasks, he supports the UN Ocean Decade to improve access to private-sector ocean data.
He is coordinating the Corporate Data Group, established by Fugro and UNESCO-IOC, which comprises leaders from private sector companies representing a wide variety of marine industries, including fisheries, energy, telecommunications, and marine contractors. This working group focuses on developing frameworks and mechanisms that will accelerate the unlocking and provision of public access to the vast reservoir of privately held ocean data.
Roger Joined IMCA in July 2023 having spent the last 27 years working in the ROV Industry around the globe, most recently for the James Fisher Group. Over his career he has held positions offshore from Trainee Pilot Technician to OPM, and onshore as a ROV operations Manager & Technical Authority.
Prior to this, Roger served in the Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers, which gave him a foundation in all manner of mechanical and electrical equipment. Roger has written several training programmes, and has hosted internships as a STEM Ambassador.
Roger is Technical Adviser for Remote Systems & ROV, Offshore Survey and Competence and Training.
Dr Sanjay C Kuttan, Founder/CEO of Kai Gaia International Advisory and a distinguished leader with over three decades of experience shaping the global energy and maritime sectors with a career spanning both public and private domains i.e., the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation, Singapore Maritime Institute, DNV, Energy Market Authority, McKinsey & Co., and ExxonMobil. His expertise includes energy transition, research, technology, and maritime decarbonisation. Beyond his executive career, he serves actively as an advisor and council member to multiple organisations driving sustainability, innovation, and community development, e.g., Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore, ERI@N-ECOI, Motion Ventures, and GCMD.
With more than a decade of news media experience, Tehmina currently anchors ‘Niaga Spotlight’, Astro Awani’s weekly economic analysis and future affairs show in Malaysia.
She is a US State Department IVLP Honoree for the Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists.
TBP Communications focuses on strategic advocacy & policy outcomes for youth, social development & gender equity issues. Since 2020, TBP curates and organises the annual Malaysia Women & Girls Forum (MWGF) supported by the United Nations in Malaysia and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Malaysia.