Introduction: Lars Lange, Secretary General, IUMI

Lars started his professional career as a maritime lawyer with the law firm Blaum Dettmers Rabstein in Bremen. In October 2008 he took over the position as head of the marine and aviation insurance department at the German Insurance Association (GDV) in Berlin. In January 2013 he moved to his present position as Secretary General of the IUMI where he runs the association’s IMO and EU activities and fosters the relations with other maritime stakeholders.

Lars also chairs the International Quality Assessment Review Body (IQARB) under the auspieces of the IMO and holds a number of honorary posts such serving as a member of the Advisory Committee to the IACS QSCS and as a technical expert to the BIMCO Safety and Security Committee.

Module A: Matthew Wilmshurst, Partner, HFW

Matthew works with ship-owners, NVOCs and transport operators, cargo interests and insurers on logistics and supply chain related disputes and projects. Matthew’s dispute resolution and litigation practice includes claims arising out of the carriage of goods, which encompasses defence work, cargo recovery, and salvage and general average claims; representing ports and terminal operators on third party liability, property damage and business interruption claims; and marine insurance policy and commercial disputes.Matthew also provides advisory services to transport operators on standard terms and conditions and contracts of carriage, and to insurers on products and policy wordings.

Matthew has been ranked in Chambers UK 2014, 2015 and 2016 as an ‘Associate to watch’. He is described as being “an eager and very intelligent lawyer who won’t stop until he finds a solution”. Clients say that, “He knows the industry and the way it works”.

Modules B & C: Christopher Hesselbrandt, Portfolio Manager Marine – Nordic Region, QBE Europe

Christopher has a law degree from the University of Stockholm with focus on insurance and maritime law. Having spent his entire career in the insurance industry he started out as a claims handler with a local Swedish insurance company before moving into underwriting more than ten years ago at the largest Nordic insurance company If P&C. He has worked as a marine manager since 2017 working for AXA XL and nowadays QBE underwriting some of the largest and most complicated risks in the Nordic market with a special focus on global cargo programmes.

Christopher is a member of the Swedish Board of Marine Insurers and has been engaged with IUMI and the Education Forum since 2018, having chaired the working group tasked with developing the curriculum for the IUMI Master Class in Cargo Insurance.

Module C: Howard Potter, Head of Marine, Aviva

Howard is a long-standing supporter of IUMI, having attended his first annual conference at Amsterdam in 2005. He became more deeply involved as a member of the Cargo Committee from 2017 and went on to join the Loss Prevention Committee including as Vice Chair in 2020, before returning to the Cargo Committee as Vice Chair in 2023. He has spoken at a number of conferences including Cape Town in 2018, Seoul in 2021, and Edinburgh in 2023, and has also spoken at the Asia Forum in Mumbai in 2022.

Howard celebrated 30 years in marine insurance in 2024. He has worked primarily in Cargo in both the London market and in Toronto, Canada. He began his career in 1994 in the Hull team at Royal Insurance in London, before moving to UK marine offices in Manchester and Birmingham for all classes of marine business. He spent 17 years at the CNA group from 2000 to 2017, running a UK branch, before moving to Toronto as Head of Marine for Canada, and then on his return to Europe he directed European marine operations for CNA before becoming Head of Cargo and Specie for the newly merged CNA Hardy. He subsequently spent two years back at RSA as Group Marine Director, before moving to Astaara, a newly formed MGA focusing on cyber risks in the maritime arena, as their Chief Underwriting Officer. In 2023, he joined Aviva Global Corporate & Specialty as Head of Marine, based in London. Aviva (with its Lloyd’s syndicate Probitas) is one of the larger players in the Cargo market in London and the UK and Howard directs a team of over 30 underwriters dedicated to the cargo class, with an emphasis on international wholesale business written in Lloyd’s.

Module C: Dr Jennifer Lavelle, Senior Associate, Clyde & Co

Dr Jennifer Lavelle is a Senior Associate and Marine Claims and Policy Specialist at Clyde & Co LLP. She specialises in providing marine and non-marine policy coverage advice to major international insurers and trading companies worldwide. Jennifer also handles recovery claims in arbitration and in court in the UK and abroad. She has a Ph.D. in commercial law and researched and taught various commercial and maritime law subjects at the University of Southampton before joining Clyde & Co., contributing to Merkin, Marine Insurance Legislation (5th edition) and Clarke (ed.), Maritime Law Evolving. She is currently assisting John Dunt in updating the third edition of Marine Cargo Insurance.

Module D: Richard Turner, Head of Product Development, West P&I

Richard has worked in insurance for 39 years, and for virtually all of that time, exclusively in marine insurance. He has worked at the highest leadership level in the Marine insurance sector and in multi-specialty lines. He was CEO of RSA Luxembourg (until 2020) and prior to that, head of RSA’s European Specialty lines business from 2017 onwards. Earlier in his career, he ran the London Market Marine operation of RSA, and then its wider UK & European Marine business. Between 2012 and 2016, he was Global Marine Director at RSA. In 2020, Richard was appointed as Global Head of Marine at Victor International, one of the largest international MGAs. In 2023 he joined West P&I as Head of Product Development. Richard was elected President of the International Union of Marine Insurance from 2018-2022 and chairs IUMI’s ESG Working Group.

Module E: Neil Roberts, Head of Marine & Aviation, Lloyd’s Market Association

Neil Roberts has worked in the London insurance market since 1985. He is Head of Marine and Aviation for the Lloyd’s Market Association and acts as London market liaison with the wider maritime services community, at both commercial and government levels, on technical and maritime security issues. He is secretary to IUMI’s Ocean Hull Committee and chairs the IUMI Policy Forum.

Module E: Patrick Murphy, Partner, Clyde & Co

Patrick Murphy is a shipping and international trade lawyer with a particular expertise in the application of sanctions to the shipping industry. He regularly advises owners, charterers, traders, brokers, insurers and managers on the implications of voyages and business involving a range of sanctioned jurisdictions, including Russia, Iran, Venezuela, Syria and Myanmar, and on procedures for compliance with UK and EU sanctions, including the Oil Price Cap regime. Patrick has also spent over a decade in Clyde & Co’s Dubai office where he advised a wide range of international clients on the sanctions risks and mitigation strategies of doing business in a high sanctions risk region.

Module E: Pascal Barbato, Global Head of Marine, Aviation & Art, Helvetia

With over 35 years of experience in marine insurance, Pascal Barbato is currently Global Head of Marine, Aviation & Art at Helvetia. He has led various specialized underwriting and leadership roles, building deep expertise in cargo, marine, and fine art insurance.

Passionate about delivering tailored solutions, he fosters long-term partnerships grounded in trust, professionalism, and a human touch. Multilingual in German, English, French, Italian, and Spanish, and currently expanding his skills with a Certificate in AI & Big Data from the University of St. Gallen, Pascal brings both tradition and innovation to the field.

Module E: Andrea Mazza, Senior Marine Data Analyst, Breeze

With over 10 years experience in marine insurance, Andrea Mazza is currently Senior Marine Data Analyst at Breeze, after a long stint in Swiss Re Corporate Solutions. He has led various risk management data-driven projects within the logistics industry from a strong insurance angle, spanning from visual analytics to machine learning and AI-models. Passionate about networking, Andrea brings his data expertise and sociability in any professional conversation he has.

Leveraging his recent experience in building the data infrastructure of a growing worldwide Insurtech from the ground up, he can share industry standards as well as new emerging data and technologies within the Insurance Cargo space