Mastering Port Management and Global Logistics (MaPLog)

Tony Graham, MSc, CEng, MBA, FRINA, FICCPM, FREng, RCNC
Visiting Professor at LJMU

Tony Graham sustained a highly successful track record in engineering and programme/project management inside the Ministry of Defence over a 34-year career. Tony trained as a Naval Constructor and achieved the rank of Constructor Rear Admiral alongside his appointment as Head of the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors.

Whilst he is well known for his leadership of the Battlefield Infrastructure Team during OP TELIC (Iraq War) and his turnaround of both the Landing Ship Dock (Auxiliary) project and the MARS Fleet Tanker project, it is his sustainment of the Queen Elizabeth Aircraft Carrier programme over a highly challenging seven-year period for which he is perhaps best known.

His final role in the UK Ministry of Defence was as Director Ships procuring and supporting all ships of the Royal Navy (2011-2015).

More recent private sector company roles have included Cammell Laird (Chief Operating Officer) and OCEA Shipbuilding UK Ltd (currently Chairman).

Prof Jin Wang

Jin Wang is a Professor of Marine Technology, the Director of Liverpool Logistics, Offshore and Marine (LOOM) Research Institute, and Associate Dean (Research and Knowledge Exchange) for the Faculty of Engineering and Technology at LJMU. Additionally, he is a Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (FIMarEST), a Fellow of the UK Safety and Reliability Society (FSaRS), a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Naval Architects (FRINA), and a Chartered Engineer. Jin is also the Chairman of the Marine Transportation Safety Committee of the European Safety and Reliability Society, and a member of the Formal Safety Assessment Experts Group at IMO.

Jin is a globally recognised civil engineer, maritime engineer, and naval architect; among top 60 world ranking scientists in civil engineering based on publications and citations annually since 2021. Jin is the Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Marine Science and Technology. He was the sole representative of the substantial maritime engineering community in the UK’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 and 2021, for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. He has supervised or co-supervised about 100 doctoral or postdoctoral researchers. He is also Chair of the UK-Malaysia University Consortium (UK-MUC) of 16 UK and 20 public Malaysian Universities funded by British Council to expand international higher education in terms of teaching, research and knowledge exchange between the UK and Malaysia.

Dr Robyn Pyne

Dr Robyn Pyne is Programme Leader and Principal Lecturer for Logistics and Maritime programmes at Liverpool John Moores University. Prior to joining the University, Robyn held academic appointments at Cardiff University, Plymouth University and London Metropolitan University. She has also held visiting lecturer status at Dalian Maritime University (China), Frederick University (Cyprus), and the Hamburg School of Shipping and Transport (Germany).

Dr Pyne is from the port town of Dartmouth in Devon, and trained as a Deck Cadet at the age of 18 with sponsorship from Trinity House. She went on to gain a BSc (Hons) Maritime Business and Maritime Law, an MSc in Social Research, and she holds a PhD in International Shipping, Logistics and Supply Chain Management. Her PhD research was on the Implementation of the STCW in China and the Development of Effective Maritime English Teaching Curriculum. She carried out her research while also a member of teaching staff in the School of Navigation at Dalian Maritime University in China. While based in Dalian, she assisted with the delivery of the World Maritime University MSc programme in Maritime Safety and Environmental Management (delivered in Dalian), and also studied Mandarin Chinese.

Dr Pyne has held the role of Programme Leader for the suite of Maritime Masters programmes at LJMU since 2017. She is an advocate of providing opportunities for lifelong learning for seafarers, having established the Sustainable Maritime Operations Management BSc and MSc programmes with the Marine Learning Alliance (Plymouth University), and more recently through working with Lloyds Maritime Academy.

Dr Abdul Khalique
Head of Maritime Centre, Programme Leader for Professional Doctorate (EngD)

Dr Abdul Khalique is the Head of the Maritime Centre and Programme Leader for the Doctor of Engineering (EngD) at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU). A qualified Master Mariner, Dr Khalique is a seasoned seafarer turned academic who has worked at Shetland School of Nautical Studies, Warsash Maritime Academy (Southampton Solent University), Serco Marine and now at LJMU. During his shore-based career, he significantly expanded his academic contributions by authoring several widely used textbooks for nautical cadets and officers. Notably, NavBasics has been extensively adopted by institutions such as Durban University of Technology and Akademi Laut Malaysia (ALAM).

Dr Khalique holds a Doctor of Engineering (EngD), with his research focused on Human Factors through use of maritime bridge simulators. As the Head of the Maritime Centre, Dr Khalique supports simulator-based training for senior deck officers and pilots and leads consultancy projects focused on developing new ship and port simulator models for proof-of-concept studies. He led the development of the MSc Renewable Energy and MSc Maritime Energy Efficiency programmes currently offered at Liverpool John Moores University. His expertise contributes significantly to various research initiatives within LJMU.

Dr Alan Bury
BSc (Hons) MA PhD FCILT SFHEA FAUA FInstLM, Senior Teaching Fellow

Dr Alan Bury is a Chartered Logistician and Senior Teaching Fellow at LJMU’s School of Engineering, where he has taught since 2011 and completed his PhD in Transport and Logistics. He has contributed to over forty-two modules in nautical and engineering programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, trained hundreds of seafarers, and supervised more than 22 BSc and 35 MSc dissertations, as well as being involved in the supervision of 9 PhD theses. Dr Bury has authored over 25 peer-reviewed publications and, with additional talks, technical papers, and articles, has produced more than 70 works. He has played a key role in research projects exceeding £7.2 million in funding and is an active member of LJMU’s Maritime Centre, Applied Computing Research Group, and Logistics, Offshore and Marine Research Institute. His research centres on pedagogic innovation in seafarer training, simulator-based teaching, and competency assessment, with further interests in human factors in maritime operations. Prior to joining LJMU, Dr Bury spent nine years as a Merchant Navy Officer operating worldwide. In 2023, he received the Merchant Navy Medal for Meritorious Service, recognising his contributions to maritime education.

Steven Jones

Mr. Jones is a well-known specialist in maritime and international affairs, as well as a consultant and writer within the maritime industry. His areas of expertise include auditing and assessing training courses globally, providing crisis management and performance evaluations, and leading strategic planning to develop both long-term visions and tactical implementation plans.

He collaborates with companies and charitable organisations to enhance their reputation and exposure through campaigns and engagement. He has been involved in award-winning initiatives, including a maritime cyber awareness campaign, and is the founder of the Seafarers Happiness Index. He is also the author of industry texts on maritime security, piracy and crime at sea through the Nautical Institute.

Dr Dimitrios Paraskevadakis

Dr Dimitrios Paraskevadakis FCILT is Programme Leader for the MSc in International Transport, Trade and Logistics at Liverpool John Moores University and the Co-Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) branch for the North West England region. He combines his roles as a logistics manager and academic, with extensive industrial experience in manufacturing and retail supply chains. Additionally, he is a highly skilled project manager, having led prominent EU and UK funded research projects in multimodal freight transport and sustainable logistics.

Prof Jun Ren

Dr Ren is Professor of Logistics and Supply Chain Management at the Liverpool Logistics, Offshore and Marine (LOOM) Research Institute at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), UK. Prof Ren has a PhD (2003) from the University of Exeter in Manufacturing Operations Management. He has more than 30 years of industrial, teaching, and research experience in the areas of risk analysis and safety assessment, logistics, and supply chain analysis. He has participated in the creation of diverse decision support systems/tools and applications intended for logistics and supply chain systems, offshore installations, oil/gas development projects, and agile/lean systems with financial support from the National Natural Foundation of China (NSFC), the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the EU, etcetera.

He is currently the coordinator of EU funded project REMESH (Research Network on Emergency Resources Supply Chain, H2020 Marie Curie RISE Project) of €1,324,800 from 2019 to 2025. He was a co-Investigator of other two EU projects RESET (Reliability and Safety Engineering and Technology for Large Maritime Systems, H2020 Marie Curie RISE Project, 2018-2022, €1,417,500) and Weastflows (freight movements in NEW, European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the Interreg IVB North West Europe Programme, 2011-2013, €4,500,000).

Prof Ren successfully supervised 10+ PhDs, leading them through groundbreaking research projects that resulted in numerous publications, patents, and advancements in their respective fields. He is currently supervising 5 PhD students in the areas of supply chain management and logistics operations. Prof Ren is an editorial board member/an associate editor of 4 international journals.

Ms Anna Kaparaki

Holding an LLM. in Private International Law from the Athens National and Kapodistrian University, Ms Kapraki is a Lecturer in Maritime Law in the School of Engineering and is also a practising solicitor at Mackinnons Solicitors LLP. She is a dual-qualified Solicitor, specialising in marine and shipping law with particular focus on shipboard and offshore casualty claims, Hull and Machinery (H&M) marine insurance claims, charter-party disputes and fleet purchase transactions.

Ms Kapraki is a member of the Law Society of Scotland and a Notary Public in Scotland. Prior to her current roles, she has been working as an associate lawyer for over 10 years in an international law firm based in Athens where she was involved in charter party negotiations, sale and transfer, casualty claims as well as in litigation related to damages due to sea pollution.

Prof Thanh Nguyen

Prof Trung Thanh Nguyen is a Professor of Operational Research in Transportation and a co-director of the Liverpool Logistics, Offshore and Marine (LOOM) Research Institute, which is a leading research institute in risk assessment, safety analysis, and transport and logistics.

He is leading the Smart Green Things group, a research and development group on optimisation/simulation, operational research, data analytics, machine learning with focuses on active travel, maritime, transport (rail and road), logistics, IoT and smart cities problems.

His group is helping industry and local authorities to improve operations and solve various problems such as:

• Optimisation solutions to improve maritime port operations.
• Digital twins and smart, data-powered solutions for transportation, especially maritime, road and public transportation.
• Simulations to understand what-if scenarios for ports, airports, train stations, and universities.
• Machine learning-based prediction to improve traffic congestion on roads and reduce delays on maritime, rail and buses.
• Smart IoT sensors and smart city solutions to improve transportation operations, well-beings and air quality.
• Data analytics, optimisation and artificial intelligence to promote active travel (cycling and walking).

He has attracted about £5M external grant funding to LJMU (over £2.5M as Principal Investigator). He has led/been leading 20 externally funded projects as Principal Investigator. He led a REF impact case study and provided 7 research outputs to LJMU’s REF 2021 Engineering submission, contributing to our excellent REF performance (96% outputs and 100% impact are ‘world-leading ‘or ‘internationally-excellent’). He received the LJMU Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research Impact in 2023, LJMU Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research, Scholarship and Knowledge Transfer in 2015, a Highly Commended Award in Newton Prize 2017, a runner-up Mersey Maritime Innovation Award in 2018 (together with Prof. Zaili Yang and Prof. Jin Wang), and a national runner-up prize for the best ICT product in the Vietnam's Nhan Tai Dat Viet 2005 award.

Dr Alireza Eslami Majd
Research Fellow in Renewable Energy Systems and Green Shipping and Maritime
Liverpool John Moores University

Dr Majd's current research activities are centred on Sustainable Maritime and Green Shipping Corridors under supervision and collaboration with Professor Jin Wang. The work supports the advancement of safety and resilience in offshore renewable energy infrastructure. Additional areas of investigation include:

• Damage analysis and Innovative crashworthiness device for Ship & Wind Offshore Turbine collision.
• System Performance and Developing Novel Ideas for Wind Assisted Propulsion Systems for Green Ship Technologies.
• Thermal Management and Smart Thermal Interface Materials for Battery Packages and Electrical devices.
• Hybrid energy platforms and floating offshore technologies.

These research themes combine computational simulations, experimental validation, and engineering system design with practical applications in marine, offshore sectors and energy storage systems.

Mr Martin Kerridge
Senior Lecturer in Educational Leadership, School of Education

Martin is a Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Educational Leadership at Liverpool John Moores University, where he is part of the team delivering educational leadership programmes and executive coaching. He also teaches on the Degree Apprenticeship in Youth Work and the MA in Academic Practice. Martin has significant experience of school leadership, having been the Headteacher of an 11-16 school in Staffordshire and the Headteacher of an 11-18 school in Lancashire. He has been a Governor in primary and secondary schools as well as the Chair of Governors of a Pupil Referral Unit. He has also held leadership roles in two further education colleges, in one as Head of Higher Education and in the other as Assistant Principal leading on quality and learner services, including being the Designated Safeguarding Lead. As a Governor in a FE College he was Chair of Curriculum and Quality. His experience of leadership in higher education includes leading initial teacher education programmes across primary and secondary phases at two universities and being an External Examiner.

Martin's breadth and depth of experience informs his work across the Centre for Educational Leadership and the wider University. He is committed to education and leadership as transformative influences that help communities and individuals realise dreams and achieve aspirational aims.

Ms Ruth Slater
Head of Centre for Educational Leadership, School of Education

Ruth Slater is Head of the Centre for Educational Leadership and a senior leader within the Faculty of Society and Culture. She leads innovative partnership and place-based projects that connect education, public services, and communities across the Liverpool City Region. Ruth is committed to advancing the region’s skills agenda through collaborative workforce development, supporting the design of inclusive, future-focused leadership pathways across the public sector.

Her academic and professional work centres on stakeholder engagement, organisational development, and applied leadership practice. Ruth brings a strong track record of creating impact through regional and national partnerships, combining executive education with coaching and mentoring to support cultural change and improve organisational performance.

With a focus on innovation and enterprise, Ruth champions leadership models that are practical, values-driven, and designed to meet the real-world needs of public sector organisations. Her work places particular emphasis on supporting under-represented groups and fostering positive working environments through evidence-informed coaching interventions.

Ruth works at the intersection of research, policy, and practice to build sustainable, high-trust partnerships that deliver meaningful outcomes across public sectors, education and communities.

Robin Grenfell Cowan
Strategic Transport Solutions International (STSI)

Mr. Cowan holds Master's degree in Jurisprudence and is considered an expert in Charter Party and commercial contractual negotiations analysing the local, national and international legal frameworks governing port authorities and cargo handling or affecting proposed mergers and acquisitions. He began his career with the family-owned SME shipping company, Edward Nicholson Ltd., and expanded the business into stevedoring and warehousing to include partnerships in Rotterdam and Dublin in addition to running Ellesmere Port docks. Nicholsons were a market leading UK/European Short Sea and chartering brokerage and Ships Agency firm handling over 1300 vessels and concluding over 1,000 fixtures per annum mainly in the dry short/middle sea trades.

Mr. Cowan also fixed chemical cargos, working as an exclusive broker for Laporte Industries and BW Mud in Aberdeen. Alongside being the shipping agent for Stolt Nielsen's short sea chemical tankers in the Manchester Ship Canal with Shell Chemicals and for Lauritzen Kosan’s Gas fleet of small LPG/LNG tankers, he had a good working relationship with leading gas brokerage firms in Bergen. He was also involved in offshore project forwarding as Spliethoff BV's UK agent and pioneered the Through Rate concept of door to door transportation for UK importers in dry cargo (mimicking the container trade) for steel, fertilisers and other commodities.

Peter Iles
Strategic Transport Solutions International (STSI)

Mr. Iles started his business career at James Fisher working with Sir John Fisher, then worked for Tor Line in Immingham for ten years before becoming General manager of the Port of Boston in Lincolnshire, where he introduced proper financial management and successfully diversified the trade of the port. While he was there the port handled about 1.5 million tonnes of cargo per annum. In 1989 he privatised the Port of Boston and then left to become a founding partner of MDS Transmodal Consultancy. In 2004 he together with Robin G. Cowan and Mary Gallagher (Stena Line, Irish Lights and past president of the CILT) formed STS International. Signifiant amount of STSI’s work was in the ferry sector in UK/Ireland/Europe, several Irish ports.

Mr. Iles is an expert commercial/market analyst together with financial modelling and modelling through freight/logistics. His specialist areas are ferries, ports and terminals and the through movement of unitised freight. He also has a thorough grasp of international passenger travel by sea.

Mr. Iles is also a shareholder and director of Interport BD, an established British company which specialises in port development projects in Bangladesh, and more recently, in Sri Lanka. This includes development of the Blue Economy for Bangladesh including both on and offshore (wind, solar and LNG/LPG).

Dr Christos Kontovas

Christos Kontovas is Reader in Sustainable Maritime Transportation and Logistics at the School of Engineering, Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU). Dr. Kontovas holds a Diploma (2005) in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering and a Ph.D. (2011) in the area of maritime safety and environmental protection, both from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece. He has previously been an Assistant Professor (2013-2016) at the Departments of Transport and Management Engineering of the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). His research focuses on quantitative methods, including cost-benefit, decision and risk analysis, related to health, safety and environmental protection (mainly on ship air emissions).

Christos holds an extensive experience from participation in several large-scale EU projects as well from being a member of several delegations to the International Maritime Organization (IMO). While at LJMU, Dr Kontovas has received more than 200,000 Euros as Principal Investigator and has been involved as a co-Investigator in over 15 successful bids, collectively contributing more than £2 million to the University. In the past (while at DTU) he has been awarded a competitive FP7 Marie-Curie Career Integration Fellowship (PCIG14-GA-2013-631178 Green Shipping, (2014-2016).

Dr Kontovas has co-authored more than 70 papers, including more than 38 papers in peer-reviewed journals, more than 30 full papers in conference proceedings (h-index 30, more than 4,700 citations in Google Scholar). Based on the number of citations and other relevant metrics he is included in the list of the world’s top 2% researchers in his field (Stanford/Elsevier list).

• The Full Event Fee is £3000.
• A place on the course can be secured by either paying a £1000 (non-refundable deposit) or paying in full (£3000).
• If the event is cancelled for whatever reasons, then a 100% refund of payments made will be provided, LJMU will not be liable for any travel or expenses commitments.
• To ensure optimal delegate experience, each course requires a minimum number of participants. If this threshold is not met, LJMU reserves the right to cancel the course. Delegates will be notified of cancellation at least two weeks in advance and offered a transfer to the next available dates. If unable to attend, a full refund will be provided.
• If a delegate cannot attend and cancels before 6 May 2026 then they can do so free of charge, and a full refund will be provided.
• If a delegate cannot attend and cancels after 6 May 2026 and before 6 June 2026 then they will receive a full refund of fees paid less £500 administration charge.
• No refund will be available if a Participant cancels after 6 June 2026.
• Lunches will be provided each day.
• An Event Dinner is provided one evening.
• The Event security level is Unclassified and is open to international delegates.
• Event fee does not include travel, accommodation, or any other living expenses.
• Upon completion of the booking form, the customer automatically accepts the terms and conditions listed on the brochure.
• LJMU will not be liable for any failure or delay in the performance, in whole or in part, of any of its obligations in connection with the provision of the course arising from or attributable to acts, events, omissions or accidents beyond its reasonable control”.
• LJMU will not be liable for any loss, injury, or damage to persons or property during the course, except where such loss, injury, or damage is caused by the University’s negligence. The University shall not be responsible for any damage or loss resulting from the actions of the attendees, including damage to any personal equipment they bring on site, such as laptops or other devices.

The event organisers reserve the right to change the events contents, topics, location, schedule or speakers at any time. Speakers may be changed subject to availability or due to their unexpected absence. Location changes will be limited to within LJMU city campus buildings where possible. Topic and content adjustments may occur in response to registrant feedback.

Liverpool is a ‘world in one city’ with a proud heritage of arts, music, sport and culture. Liverpool is home to Liverpool FC and Everton FC. The city has a large and historic waterfront which includes Cammell Laird and a busy cruise ship terminal. Those who love maritime heritage will find much to do, including visiting the Western Approaches Museum (Battle of the Atlantic), U534 The U-Boat Story, and much more.