The affairs of SSA are managed by a Council, supported by the SSA Secretariat.
Biennially, the Ordinary Members of the Association elect seven Council members, and in turn they can co-opt up to six other members, at least two of who must be representatives of Ordinary Members of the Association, to form the Council.
Both the elected and co-opted Council Members hold their offices for a term of two years.
SSA President Ms Caroline Yang Chief Executive
SSA Vice President Mr René Piil Pedersen Managing Director
SSA Vice President Ms Katie Men Managing Director
Ms Caroline Yang is the CEO of Hong Lam Marine Pte Ltd, a leading bunker craft operator in Singapore.
Caroline has over 30 years of experience in the shipping industry. Kickstarting her career as Hong Lam Marine’s in-house legal counsel in 1991, Caroline progressed to the appointment of Executive Director in 2002. In her current role as CEO, she also directly oversees the legal and human resources functions in the company.
Caroline was first elected as President of the Singapore Shipping Association in 2019, becoming the first female to helm the association since its inception in 1985. Currently serving her third term, Caroline has seen through some of the association’s most challenging times. Her first two years in office was during the outbreak of COVID-19 and she oversaw various initiatives that placed Singapore at the forefront of the global response to the plight of seafarers. More recently, Caroline is committed to leading the industry in areas of digital transformation, cybersecurity, decarbonisation, talent attraction and retention.
Caroline holds a L.L.B. Honours from the University of London and a B.A. Honours from the National University of Singapore. She has been called to the Bar of England and Wales and the Bar of Singapore in 1992 and 1995 respectively. Caroline is also one of the four Vice-Chairs of the International Chamber of Shipping. She is also a board member of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore and the Singapore Maritime Foundation.
Rene Piil Pedersen is Managing Director of A.P. Moller Singapore Pte Ltd (Maersk), which has 143 container vessels registered in Singapore representing investments of more than USD6.9 billion. He has been based in Singapore since 2012. Furthermore, he is also a board member of various Maersk companies with activities ranging from ship owning, global and regional liner shipping services, crewing & training as well as energy & offshore services.
Rene Piil Pedersen is Vice President of the SSA and Council Member of Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF). He has also served and contributed to various Singapore Government Committees and Working Groups, including the Committee of the Future Economy (Sub-Committee on Connectivity) and the Singapore Customs Advisory Council.
Rene Piil Pedersen holds a Master in Economics (M.Sc.) from University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and a Diploma in Business Administration/International Business from Copenhagen Business School, Denmark. Furthermore, he holds an AMP from IESE Business School, Barcelona, Spain, and have followed other executive courses from various international business schools.
Rene Piil Pedersen is a Danish national, married to Lisa and they have two adult sons.
Ms Katie Men is the Managing Director of iSEACO Investment Pte Ltd, a ship-owning company that deals with ship management and ship investment for the container and drybulk segment.
Before joining iSEACO in 2007, Katie worked in equity trading and marketing roles in the US.
Katie joined SSA in 2007 as Vice-Chair of SSA Young Executive Group and progressed on to become its Chair. Since 2011, Katie has been a SSA Council Member. Currently, Katie serves as SSA Vice President and Honorary Treasurer, and as Honorary Treasurer for the Asian Shipowners’ Association.
Katie holds Master of Science degrees in Marine Transportation and Investment Management from State University of New York Maritime College and Lubin School of Business respectively. Katie received the Seatrade Young Person of the Year award in 2018.
SSA Council Member Mr Teo Teng Seng Advisor
SSA Council Member Mr Jun Shibata Executive Vice President, Marketing & Commercial Division (Global Headquarters) & Regional Head of South Asia
SSA Council Member Mr Apostolos Boutos General Manager
Mr Teo was appointed as the Advisor of Pacific International Lines (PIL) in July 2022. Prior to this appointment, Mr Teo was the Managing Director of PIL Logistics Pte Ltd since the company was founded in 2001.
Prior to starting up PIL Logistics, Mr Teo headed the information technology, planning and budgeting functions in PIL as its Executive Director. Under his purview, PIL pioneered an enterprise resource planning system that runs on a single instance system architecture. In PIL Logistics, Mr Teo oversees business strategy, helping the company chart out its goals, objectives and tactical plans. He refines go-to-market strategies including value propositions, services, solutions, marketing and branding. He also oversees and identify new areas of growth for the company and builds international strategic partners to facilitate the growth of the company.
Since his appointment as Chair of SSA’s Digitalization Committee in 2021, his committee has driven many initiatives focused on industry-wide capability building in maritime digitalization. Through the committee’s efforts, SSA members have increased their awareness of relevant maritime technology developments that will support the digital transformation of their businesses.
Mr Teo graduated from the University of Tennessee with an Electrical Engineering degree and a Master in Business Administration from the University of Washington.
Apostolos Boutos is the General Manager of Thenamaris Singapore, a ship manager providing technical and commercial management of tankers, bulk carriers, and containerships. Prior to his move to Singapore in 2018, he worked in Thenamaris (Ships Management) Inc in Athens, Greece holding different roles both in Chartering and Operations (Bunkers, Disbursements). Thenamaris manages 90 vessels globally, and employs more than 300 employees and 3,600 seafarers.
Apotolos serves as the Chair of the Marine Fuels & Energy Committee for the second term. He was first appointed as a SSA councilor in 2021. The Committee works with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), other international maritime organizations and service providers on to address fuel quality issues and digital bunkering initiatives, for Singapore to retain its competitiveness as a leading bunkering port.
During his term, he co-lead the MPA-SSA Industry Expert Group following the identification of fuel contamination issues in the Port of Singapore in 2022. He steered the working group towards identifying a list of chemicals for additional testing prior to being supplied, as a form of quality assurance of bunkers lifted in Singapore.
Apostolos holds an International MBA from the Athens University of Economics and Business and graduated from the Democritus University of Thrace with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering.
SSA Council Member Mr Lee Keng Lin Chief Executive Officer
SSA Council Member Mr Lakhbir Singh Managing Director
SSA Council Member Ms Akanksha Batura Pai Head of Strategy and Growth
Mr Lee Keng Lin is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at CYAN Renewables Pte Ltd, a provider of best-in-class offshore marine assets and services for the global offshore Wind Sector. He has more than 20 years of experience in the offshore marine industry, including serving as CEO of PACC Offshore Services Pte Ltd, and as Director in international maritime companies including shipyards, shipping and venture group.
Mr. Lee is also heading the Decarbonization Committee, a newly formed committee that will primarily focus on industry activities that occur within our port waters, facilitating the sector’s transition towards cleaner energy use, and for harbourcraft operations within our port waters to be more efficient and sustainable. These efforts by the maritime industry will help Singapore deliver its targets towards the CO2 reduction milestones as we head into 2030 and 2050.
Mr Lee graduated from NUS with a first-class honours in Electrical Engineering and is on the Vice Chancellor’s List. He is a CFA chart holder and an alumnus of INSEAD.
Mr Lakhbir Singh is the CEO of Orient Maritime Agencies Singapore Pte Ltd. He co-founded the Orient Maritime Group (OMG) in 2015, a ship agency that fronts agency work for bulk carriers, tankers and liners.
Lakhbir has over 30 years of experience in the shipping agency business. Before setting up OMG, Lakhbir spent 24 years in various roles and positions within Jardine Shipping Services.
Since his appointment as SSA Councillor in 2022, Lakhbir has been serving as the Services Committee Chair. The Services Committee focuses on improving port maritime services in Singapore. During his term, the Committee’s efforts enabled the post-COVID resumption of alongside activities in private oil terminals in Singapore.
Lakhbir holds a double MBA degree with specialization in Shipping, Offshore and Finance from Nanyang Business School. He is a seasoned Hockey player, captaining Singapore over 50’s Hockey team in the Masters World Cup in South Africa in 2022.
Akanksha is the Head of Strategy and Growth at Sinoda Shipping Agency Pte Ltd, and is serving as a Strategy Consultant to Raks International Pte Ltd and TransAsia Marine Services Pte Ltd. Among other duties, she is spearheading the digitization and sustainability efforts of the respective companies. She is also Director at Seamind Blue Ocean Pte Ltd.
She is currently serving as a SSA Council Member and Vice-Chairperson of the International Committee and was the immediate past Chairperson of SSA’s Young Executives Group (YEG).
Her other maritime contributions include being an active member of the Circle of Digital Officers (CDO) of the Maritime Port Authority of Singapore, and appointed the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Goodwill Maritime Ambassador to represent Singapore. She serves as an Advisor for the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Maritime Business Society (MBS).
To encourage other SME shipping organisations to embark on the digitalisation journey, Akanksha and the Sinoda team have been featured in MPA and Enterprise Singapore’s Go Digital videos and marketing collaterals to share her experience at Sinoda.
Akanksha is the Liaison Officer at The Hon. Consulate-General of the Republic of Malta, Singapore. She handles various cultural events, trade events and diplomatic matters.
SSA Council Member Ms Cristina Saenz de Santa Maria Regional Manager, South East Asia, Pacific & India Region, Maritime, DNV Singapore Pte Ltd
SSA Council Member Mr Prabjot Singh Chopra VP Technology, SeaTech Solutions International (S) Pte Ltd
SSA Council Member Mr Leong Kah Wah Partner, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP
Cristina is responsible for DNV’s maritime operations in South-East Asia Pacific & India since October 2017 in her capacity as Vice President, Regional Manager. Having joined DNV in 2005, she worked in various business functions of newbuilding, operations and corporate strategy in Spain, Portugal, South Korea and Norway. This included a stint as senior consultant to the CEO’s office and project manager for the merger between DNV and GL in September 2013.
In 2015 she became responsible for DNV GL’s maritime and oil & gas operations in Africa in her capacity as Area Manager and Country chair for Africa until September 2017.
Cristina was appointed as the Chair of the Technical Committee of SSA in 2023. This Committee will address industry issues relating to safety, security, and environmental sustainability. The Committee will also promote decarbonisation of the shipping sector by supporting the adoption of cleaner fuels, promoting energy-efficient vessel designs and retrofittings, and studying alternative propulsion systems.
Cristina holds a Master of Science degree in naval architecture from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain, and an MBA from IE Business School, Madrid, Spain.
Prabjot is the Vice President of Technology and a member of the Board of Directors at SeaTech Solutions, a Singapore ship designer and marine engineering company with offices in the region and in Germany and Australia. In his role, he spearheads the advancement of innovative “Green Ship Design” concepts, integrating alternative fuels such as Methanol, Ammonia, and Hydrogen, along with cutting-edge technologies like Energy Storage Systems and Fuel Cells. He launched the SeaTech Goal Zero Consortium, working with the Singapore authorities and research institutes to develop and pilot Electric Harbourcraft in Singapore.
Prabjot has been involved in the Young Executive Group (YEG) committee since 2018, serving as its Vice-Chair in 2021 before his appointment as its Chair in 2023. In 2021, he held concurrent appointment as the Chair of the Alternative Fuel Sub-Committee in SSA. The YEG Committee focuses on the empowerment and professional development of young maritime executives working in SSA member companies.
Prabjot sits on the Regional Board of the International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) for Asia. He holds a Master of Science degree from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), and a Bachelor of Engineering degree specializing in Offshore Engineering from the National University of Singapore (NUS). He is currently pursuing an MBA at the National University of Singapore.
Mr Leong Kah Wah is a partner at Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP, who specialises in Shipping & International Trade and has appeared as lead counsel in landmark Court of Appeal judgments. He was appointed Senior Accredited Specialist for this practice area by the Singapore Academy of Law. He is the President of the Maritime Law Association of Singapore.
In Legal 500 Asia Pacific guidebook, he is acknowledged as a leading individual and is described as “an outstanding and experienced wet shipping lawyer and a good advocate who proposes solutions rather than disagreeing with opposing counsel for the sake of it. He is also ranked in Band 1 in Chambers and “is widely viewed as a prominent litigator in the market.”
He also has extensive experience in handling commercial disputes in Court litigation, arbitration and mediation. His perspective on commercial disputes is highly sought after as his expertise is developed from his regular appointments as counsel, arbitrator and mediator on diverse commercial areas and industries.
SSA Council Member Mr Abhishek Pandey Managing Director & Global Head of Transportation Finance , Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore) Limited
Abhishek is the Global Head of Shipping Finance for Standard Chartered Bank since 2007, and has been involved in originating, structuring, and executing transactions globally, a lot of which have won industry awards. He sits on the Board of various Standard Chartered subsidiaries like Standard Chartered Leasing Group Ltd.
Abhishek was first appointed as a SSA councilor in 2023 and chairs the Shipping Finance Services Committee. The Committee aims to raise the profile of ship financing services in Singapore, and inform and educate SSA members on vessel financing in an environment where ESG is playing a more prominent role in investor decision making.
