About This Webinar
An extraordinary session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is scheduled for October 2025, just one week after the IAPH 2025 World Ports Conference in Kobe. The adoption of the IMO Net-Zero Framework will be proposed as amendments to the current MARPOL Convention related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships at that meeting.

These changes could have a potentially profound impact on ports and the way they serve shipping.

This major topic will be up for discussion between 7 – 9 October at #IAPH2025 on Kobe. In the meantime, this webinar will set the scene for those discussions, with top speakers airing their views, including the World Bank’s recently appointed Global Lead for Maritime Transport and Ports.
Presenters
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    Rhona Macdonald
    Policy & IMO Liaison Officer - International Association of Ports and Harbors
    Rhona Macdonald is the Policy and IMO Liaison Officer for the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) representing ports at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and contributing to policy and project work pertaining to the energy transition, digitalisation and improving resilience in ports. Rhona is also the Senior Sustainability Advisor at the British Ports Association focusing on environmental policy issues and sharing best practice with UK ports. She is currently developing the BPA’s Decarbonisation Programme which includes a Decarbonisation Benchmarking Scheme to highlight UK ports’ progress towards reducing their carbon emissions.
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    Jan Hoffmann
    Global Lead, Maritime Transport and Ports, The World Bank
    Jan joined the World Bank Transport Global Department in January 2025, to support World Bank client countries to reform and expand investment in the maritime and port sector. Current projects include the Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) and the revised World Bank Port Reform Toolkit.

    From 2003 to 2024, Jan worked for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), since 2016 as Head of the Trade Logistics Branch. He developed and led technical assistance programs in trade facilitation, co-authored and coordinated of the Review of Maritime Transport, and initiated the Maritime Country Profiles, the International Transport Costs Data Set, and the Liner Shipping Connectivity Index.

    Previously, Jan spent six years with the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago de Chile, and two years with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London and Santiago. Prior to this, he held part time positions as assistant professor, import-export agent, seafarer, translator, and consultant. For eight years, he also worked part time for the family tramp shipping business Hoffmann Shipping, based in Horneburg, Germany, with a tweendecker registered in St. Johns, Antigua and Barbuda.

    Jan has studied in Germany, United Kingdom, and Spain, and holds a doctorate degree in Economics from the University of Hamburg. He is member of the boards of various journals and professional associations, and from 2014 to 2018 was president of the International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME).

    Dr Hoffmann has been to more than 140 countries and had his hair cut in 85.

    He has three sons and one wife.
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    Peter Alkema
    Harbour Master Strategic Lead, Port of Amsterdam
    Peter Alkema is responsible for strategy in the Port of Amsterdam harbour master division and is lead for innovation and development initiatives focused on sustainability, port call optimization, autonomous shipping and port resilience.

    In this capacity, Peter collaborates with organizations and ports both within the Netherlands and internationally. He currently serves as Chair of the Clean Marine Fuels Working Group under the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) and is a member of the Green Award Board of Experts.

    Peter holds an unlimited Master Mariner’s license. Before joining the Port of Amsterdam, he spent over 20 years at sea as an officer and captain in the merchant navy and offshore industry, specializing in dynamic positioning. He also brings expertise in software development and quality management, with a strong interest in emerging technologies.

    The Port of Amsterdam is dedicated to developing, operating, and managing the Amsterdam port region. Its mission is to foster sustainable economic growth in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area by balancing financial performance, quality of life, and regional value creation.

    The Port of Amsterdam Harbour Master’s Division is responsible for safe, efficient, and environmentally responsible marine traffic from 20 nautical miles off IJmuiden to the Oranjesluizen locks in Amsterdam.
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    Françoise van den Brink
    Program manager and Senior Advisor Energy Transition - Division Harbourmaster - Port of Rotterdam
    Françoise van den Brink started her career in the energy transition in 2013 and joined the Port of Rotterdam - Port Authority Division Harbour Master - in 2023 as senior advisor Energy transition. Before she joined the Port of Rotterdam she was senior consultant at the Dutch Standardization Institute with a responsibility on a European level to set up a platform performing GAP analysis on needs for hydrogen research and standardization. Also, she took the initiative to set up a Technical Committee on hydrogen in energy systems and she was involved in several European projects on hydrogen. In the Netherlands she set up and was program manager of the Hydrogen Safety Innovation Programme (WVIP) which operated under de H2Platform (nowadays NLHydrogen). On an international level she was Committee Manager of the ISO Technical committee “Oil and gas industries including lower carbon energy” which also has a subcommittee on LNG.

    With this knowledge she made the switch to the Port of Rotterdam Port Authority. At present, het role is Program Manager of the Energy Transition Program for the Harbour Master Division.
    Her responsibility as Program Manager of the Energy Transition Program is to ensure that the Harbour Master Division objectives on safe energy transition and a safe port call are met and implemented in processes and systems with the described responsibilities.
    She is the IAPH PRL (Port Readiness Level) working group lead, responsible for the development of the PRL for Marine Fuels assessment tool (PRL-MF) and under development the PRL for Cargo and a port call on alternative fuels. She also works on an international accepted harmonized safety framework for all the new energy carriers like LNG, Methanol, (Liquid) Hydrogen, Ammonia and electrical power for propulsion. She is also active in the field of what On Board Carbon Capture (OBCC) would mean for a port.
    For these purposes she is working closely with other (port) authorities, international regulatory authorities, branch organizations and shipping companies. Françoise is a member of workgroups within the IAPH/CMF, IMO-GIA and is in many international programs to ensure that the operations, related to the new fuels for the shipping industry, will be done safely in the port of Rotterdam.
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    Moderator - Victor Shieh
    Strategy and Communications Director - IAPH
    Victor Shieh is IAPH’s Strategy and Communications Director, having commenced work for IAPH as Communications Partner for its World Ports Sustainability Program which launched in 2018.

    Victor has been involved in the maritime and logistics industry since he graduated in BCom from The University of Birmingham, beginning his career as a management trainee of the National Freight Consortium in the UK before leaving for Spain. There he commercially managed an enterprise serving Iberian ports and logistics operations with real-time radio data solutions.

    He then moved to Belgium in 1998 where he was European Business Unit Manager for voice-based logistics data systems. He then joined Safmarine Container Lines as Global PR and Communications Executive , a Maersk subsidiary with roots in Africa.

    Following ten years in the role, Victor set up his own communications agency, advising shipowners, offshore companies, ports, terminal operators, supply chain logistics companies, and forwarders on all aspects of corporate communications.
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    Patrick Verhoeven
    Managing Director IAPH
    Patrick Verhoeven is managing director of the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH). The organisation represents 198 ports and some 173 port-related businesses worldwide.

    Prior to joining IAPH in 2017, Patrick spent twenty-four years in Brussels representing the interests of shipowners, port authorities, terminal operators and ship agents at EU level. He started his career in 1991 with the Antwerp-based ship agent Grisar & Velge.

    From 2019 to 2022, Patrick served on the supervisory board of the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority as deputy chairman. Patrick holds a PhD in applied economics and a bachelor’s in law from the University of Antwerp. He is associate professor at the university’s Centre for Maritime and Air Transport Management (C-MAT). Patrick lives in Antwerp with his wife and three children.
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