Maritime Conclave 2025

Riyad Mathew

Chief Associate Editor and Director, The Week / The Malayala Manorama Group

Madhu Nair

Chairman and Managing Director, Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL)

Commodore PR Hari

Chairman and Managing Director, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE)

Elias George

Former Managing Director, Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL)

Pradeep Jayaraman

CEO, Adani Vizhinjam Port Private Limited (AVPPL)

Turning the Tide: Ships of Tomorrow, Built in India. Why is India’s share in global shipbuilding just 0.6%? How to make India an important ship-building hub? What has changed in the last decade? How to overcome the challenges and exploit the opportunities? The sustainability issue

Moderator: Madhu Nair

Chairman and Managing Director (CMD), Cochin Shipyard Limited

Panelist 1: Pankaj Chadha

Vice President, Larsen & Toubro

Panelist 2: Harikrishan S

Director (Operations), Cochin Shipyard Limited

Panelist 3: Capt. Ankur Arora

Global Marketing leader (Tankers), Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore

Panelist 4: Hariraj P

Chief Operating Officer, Smart Engineering and Design Solutions (India) Private ltd. (SEDS) Marine Design

An Address by Commander Abhilash Tomy, KC, NM (Retd) on ship building and overcoming the challenges.
Presentation by Lieutenant Commander Dilna K and Lieutenant Commander Roopa Alagirisamy on overcoming challenges and women’s empowerment in India’s maritime domain

Enhancing India’s ship repair, recycling and renewal capabilities, the enormous potential and their possibilities

Moderator: Rajesh Gopalakrishan

Director (Technical), Cochin Shipyard Limited

Panelist 1: Haresh Kumar Parmar (Hony Secy)

Ship Recycling Industries Association, India (SRIA)

Panelist 2: Capt JK Thomas

Expert on Ship recycling and a documentary filmmaker on the subject

Panelist 3: Subba Rao

Chief General Manager, Hindustan Shipyard Ltd (HSL)

The use and application of technology in integrating modern and digital technologies for efficiency and innovation in Ship Building. Leveraging Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Blockchain, etc

Moderator: Commodore PR Hari

Chairman and Managing Director, (Garden Reach Shipbuilders And Engineers Limited) GRSE

Panelist 1: Rajiv Nayyer

Advisor, Swan Defence Heavy Industries

Panelist 2: Biju George

Director, Ship Building, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL)

Panelist 3: Anjana KR

Chief General Manager (Design), Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL)

Panelist 4: Kalyanjit Hatibaruah

Tech Expert on Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain in Shipping

Panelist 5: Kripakar M Marur

Indian Register of Shipping (IRClass) Society

Ports as Engines of Growth Port Infrastructure, modernization, Upgrading existing ports and developing new ones, leveraging technology for efficient operations

Moderator: Sunil Paliwal

Chairperson, Chennai Port Authority

Panelist 1: Girish Thomas

Chief General Manager (Traffic), Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) (on Vadhavan port)

Panelist 2: Pranab Jha

Executive Vice President, JSW Steel

Development through ports, empowering ports for regional growth, infrastructure development and capacity building, Start-Ups and innovation ecosystems in this domain

Moderator: Sreekumar Nair

Chief Executive Officer, Vizhinjam port

Panelist 1: B Kasiviswanathan

Chairperson, Cochin Port Authority (CoPA)

Panelist 2: Sunil Kumar Ayyappan

General Manager, Projects, Adani Vizhinjam Port Pvt Ltd

Presentation by Capt Anuj Sahai, MD, T&T, Salvage Asia, Project Lead in two high profile ship accidents near Kochi (ELSA3 and Wan Hai 503)

The potential of inland water transportation in India, how to enhance it, integrating waterways with ports and logistics, the last-mile connectivity

AK Bansal

Chief Engineer, Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI)

Raj Singh

Chairman, Antara Cruises

Nishyjith K John

Managing Director, Neo Classic Cruise and Tours

Sajan P John

Chief Operating Officer, Kochi Water Metro Limited

Maritime Financing, exploring funding options for maritime projects, PPP perspectives

Elias George

Former Managing Director, Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) and Independent Director, Federal Bank

Challenges to Maritime Financing, Investment Opportunities

Arnab Choudhury

Executive Vice President, SBI Capital Markets, State Bank of India

Skill Development in India’s Maritime Sector

Moderator: Commodore R Vasan

Regional Director, National Maritime Foundation (NMF)

Panelist 1: J Senthil Kumar

Joint Director General, Mercantile Marine Department, Kochi

Panelist 2: Dr PG Sunil Kumar

Head Department of Naval Architecture, Srinarayan Gurukulam College of Engineering, Kochi

Panelist 3: Dr(Ms) N Ashwathy

Principal Scientist, Fishery Resource Assessment Economics and Extension Division (FRAEED), Kochi

Panelist 4: Capt Tom Joseph

Mariner with 4 decades of experience and a fellow of Nautical Institute London

Documentary

An audio visual on the medieval maritime connections between the Malabar Coast and China. Joe Thomas Karackattu, an IIT Chennai Professor has tracked down descendants of sea-faring families from Kerala who sailed to China and from China to Kerala about 600 years ago. The documentary will be followed by a 15-minute talk including a Q&A session

Ajitkumar Sukumaran

Chief Surveyor and Additional Director General of Shipping

Divya Sesha Iyer

Managing Director, Vizhinjam International Seaport

Sarbananda Sonowal

Hon’ble Minister, MoPSW
(Welcome address by Riyad Mathew)

B Kasiviswanathan

Chairman, Cochin Port Authority