Ferry Shipping Summit 2026
Scandic Triangeln Malmö, Sweden

Dr. Thomas Bauer is in charge of SOLVAY's exhaust gas treatment activities in the maritime industry (SOLVAir® Marine). He holds a master degree in Process Engineering and a doctorate degree in Energy and Economics of the RWTH Aachen University in Germany. After 4 years as scientific employee in the Research Center Jülich he joined the Solvay Group in 1992 and has been working there in different functions. Before taking over the responsibility for SOLVAir Marine® as Global Project Director he was in charge of the Head of Sales & Marketing of SOLVAY's flue gas treatment activities (SOLVAir® Solutions) on land in Germany and Central Europe.

Manos Giakoumelis is Chief Technology Officer at Liknoss, where he leads the technology strategy and development of large-scale reservation and distribution platforms powering the ferry and maritime travel ecosystem across multiple international markets.
With over 15 years of experience in product and engineering leadership, he drives the evolution of resilient, future-ready digital platforms that support high-volume travel operations and complex industry requirements.

- Presentation title:
The ai readiness reality check: What operators actually need before they deploy anything

- Bio
Yiannis Maglaras is the CEO of Expian and a visionary technology entrepreneur with a distinguished career building and scaling successful digital enterprises. He leverages his deep technical expertise, gained through his years of software engineering, to pioneer Expian's game-changing SaaS ticketing ecosystem, completely transforming how the travel and transportation sectors manage complex inventory. Guided by a fiercely customer-first mindset, Yiannis remains deeply invested in the real-world impact of his technology, ensuring that every digital solution he builds genuinely empowers the people using it every day.

Evgenios is a global partnerships executive, with 20 years' experience, currently working on trust and economics that connect protection to everyday life. His experience defined by "impact at scale" began as a journalist, shaping public understanding through research, then grew at an international NGO and global partnerships in collaboration with private companies, the United Nations and the European Commission. At AXA, where he built a Strategic Partnerships Division from scratch bringing protection to ever-larger audiences. Today, as Head of Global Partnerships (BoD) at Wallbid he works to bring protection everywhere, for everyone, embedding it into existing customer journeys.

Bent Hansen is a Partner at Mantec, an international consultancy and member of the Andersen Consulting Group.
He is an experienced executive with a background in shipping, logistics, warehousing, food manufacturing, and recruitment across Denmark and the Nordic region. He has also spent four years working in the aquaculture industry on Borneo in Malaysia.
Bent joined Mantec in 2004 as a Partner and has since focused ondeveloping international sales.

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Ugur Emir Mengenecioglu is a third-generation shipowner and maritime entrepreneur, son of Murat Mengenecioglu and grandson of the renowned Turkish shipowner Ugur Mengenecioglu, carrying forward a family legacy in international shipping and shipyard management.
He joined UM Deniz in 2020 as a Board Member and has since been actively involved in the strategic development of the family’s maritime activities. He was also part of the Strategic Research & Development team behind SENSUS, contributing to the development of its innovative ferry concept and overall vision.
Ugur studied Physics at Queen Mary University of London and Business Administration at Regent’s University London. Fluent in Turkish, English and French, he brings a scientific, commercial and international perspective to the maritime industry.
His focus is on developing the next generation of ferry transportation through innovative hydrodynamics, with SENSUS 42 SWATH combining exceptional seakeeping, passenger comfort, fuel efficiency and minimal wake.
His vision is to combine generations of maritime experience with innovation and help redefine the future of ferry transportation.

Coming Soon!

Erik Arveschoug is an Account Manager at Ripple Operations, working with ferry and maritime operators across Europe on digital crew management, HR, payroll, training and workforce solutions.
With a background in maritime commercial operations and shipbroking, he brings both industry and technology perspectives to the challenges facing modern ferry operators. His focus is on helping maritime organisations better connect people, data and operational decision-making.

Robert Blažinović holds an MSc in Economics from the University of Rijeka and completed a postgraduate specialist program in economics at the same
institution. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Media and Communication at the University of North in Koprivnica.
He began his career in hospitality management before spending over a decade in the public sector shaping industrial and entrepreneurial policy in
Croatia. In 2016, he joined the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, leading the Directorate for Industry, Entrepreneurship, and Crafts, where he
drove policies to strengthen SMEs, boost industrial competitiveness, and foster innovation.

Since February 2025, Robert serves as the President of the Management Board of Jadrolinija, Croatia’s national shipping company. He is responsible for strategic
and operational leadership, financial sustainability, and the company’s ongoing digital transformation. Under his leadership, Jadrolinija is investing in fleet
modernization, green transition initiatives, and enhancing customercentric services.

With a broad background in finance, leadership, and business development, Veronika Leo has built extensive experience across several industries. Before taking on the role of Managing Director, she served as Financial Manager at the Port of Ystad for several years, with responsibility for financial management and business development. Earlier in her career, Veronika was also Financial Manager within the automotive sales industry and has worked in sectors including residential property, forestry real estate, and healthcare.
Earlier in life, Veronika was a competitive swimmer and earned a scholarship to a university in the United States, combining academic studies with elite-level sport.

Björn Nilsson assumed the role as CEO of Gotlandsbolaget in 2025, after being Vice Chairman of the Board since 2018.
Björn Nilsson has a background from private equity and banking. Prior to his current CEO role, Björn was a senior investment professional at Triton in London since the firm’s inception in the late 1990s. Before that, he was in corporate banking with Chase Manhattan Bank in New York. He moved back to Sweden in 2019. Björn’s family has been involved in Gotlandsbolaget since the 1960’s when Björns father Eric D. Nilsson assumed a management and owner role in the company.

About Gotlandsbolaget
Rederi AB Gotland (publ) (Gotlandsbolaget) was founded in 1865 and is Sweden’s oldest passenger shipping company. The Group has approximately 1 500 employees, with headquarters in Visby on the island of Gotland. The Company’s shares are listed on Nasdaq First North, Sweden
The main businesses are Destination Gotland, which operates the routes between the isle of Gotland and mainland Sweden; Go Nordic Cruiseline, which operates the route between Copenhagen and Oslo; Gotland Alandia Cruises, which operates the cruise ship Birka Gotland; Gotland Hotels & Properties, which owns and operates hotels and properties on Gotland and Gotland Tech Development, which includes Gotland Carbon Solutions.
In April 2026, Gotlandsbolaget, together with Interogo Infrastructure and Lægernes Pension, entered into an agreement to acquire 30 percent of the shares in Nordic Ferry Infrastructure. The seller is EQT Infrastructure V, who will remain the majority owner of NFI.

Dr. Thanassis Karlis is Chief Deputy Manager of the Marketing Department at Piraeus Port Authority S.A., one of Europe's leading ports. Throughout his career at the Port of Piraeus, he has held senior management positions in Marketing, Strategic Planning, and Public Relations, contributing to the port's commercial development and international positioning.
In academia, Dr. Karlis has served as a Clinical Professor in the MSc Shipping program at University of Piraeus, an External Examiner for University of Essex, and an Professor at University of Tasmania, where he also headed the Ports and Shipping Department.
His research and publications focus on maritime economics, port policy, and shipping management, with contributions to international journals and conferences. Dr. Karlis holds a PhD in Maritime Studies from the University of Piraeus and an MSc in International Trade from Cardiff University.

Hans-Christoph Burmeister is working as Business Development Manager for Anschütz and is also the responsible product manager for Anschütz’ commercial autonomy suite Autonomics. Currently, he is preparing the product launch of Anschütz new assistance system Autonomics CGA for COLREG-compliant collision and grounding avoidance assistance onboard crewed vessels.

Hans-Christoph has a long history in developing and shaping maritime autonomy. Before his career at Anschütz, he headed the Department ‘Sea Traffic and Nautical Solutions’ at Fraunhofer-Center for Maritime Logistics and Services CML in Hamburg, Germany as well as the Fraunhofer Innovation Platform for Smart Shipping FIP-S2@Novia in Turku, Finland. Amongst others, Hans-Christoph Burmeister coordinated the internationally known European research project MUNIN on unmanned vessels from 2012 to 2015 as well as the industrial Autonomous Navigation Test-Bed development for Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering from 2015 to 2016, paving the way for autonomy solutions in commercial shipping. Thereby, his main focus was on COLREG-compliant collision avoidance algorithms. From 2020 onwards, his department exploited those research results industrially under his leadership, as e.g. by demonstrating the first remote controlled tug towing maneuver with Voith in 2021 as well as the product development of EyeCaptain, a camera-based assistance system for officer of the Schulte Group.

Hanna Roihuvaara is Head of Marketing & Communications at Weasel Port Solutions (WPS). She works at the intersection of product, sales and customer communications, focusing on how critical infrastructure can be made more controllable, predictable and customer-friendly through practical digitalisation. With a strong background in B2B marketing and communications, Hanna translates complex operational reality into clear messages, stories and materials that support better decision-making and smoother everyday operations for ports, operators and their stakeholders.

Mike Karjagin is Sales Director, Ports & Logistics at Weasel Port Solutions, with a long career in the maritime and logistics ecosystem. With roughly 30 years of experience, he has worked in port and cargo operations, ferry and shipping environments, and in senior commercial and leadership roles across forwarding, rail services, and logistics solutions. Mike combines hands-on operational understanding with a strong sales and customer-care mindset, helping ports and ferry operators modernise passenger, vehicle, and cargo flows through practical digitalisation and better operational control.

Vedran Leso is Managing Director of Adaptive Recognition Global Services ApS in Copenhagen, Denmark, the company behind Adaptive Port Systems.

Adaptive Port Systems automates the vehicle journey through ferry terminals and Ro-Ro ports, from the approach road to the car deck, built on 35 years of ANPR engineering by Adaptive Recognition in Hungary.

Vedran runs the full customer lifecycle: pre-sales, integration, deployment, monitoring and support, and SLA. He works with ferry and Ro-Ro operators and port authorities across Europe, including Port of Dover, Rosslare Europort and others…

Stelios Christakos is a Digital Transformation and Change Management consultant with more than three decades of experience helping the ferry and passenger-shipping industry adopt emerging technology.
He is also an Advisory Board member, Angel Investor and startup founder.
He pioneered Greece’s first computerized ferry ticketing system in 1989 and its first Ferry Reservations System in 1991.
Since 2019, he is Strategy and Business Development Advisor to Certus Online S.A. — creator of the CertusBook™ platform powering booking, ticketing and check-in for ferry operators across Greece and the Mediterranean.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stelios-christakos/

Jan‑Erik Räsänen is the Marine Energy Transition Executive Director at Foreship by RINA, based in Helsinki. He leads Foreship’s global technology organisation, bringing together specialists in battery energy storage systems, alternative fuels, energy‑efficiency solutions and emerging maritime technologies.
A recognised authority on ship power and onboard energy systems, Mr. Räsänen specialises in reducing energy consumption and developing solutions that significantly lower emissions from shipboard plants. He works closely with vessel owners and operators, advising on practical pathways to improve energy efficiency and support long‑term decarbonisation strategies tailored to the evolving regulatory landscape.
Mr. Räsänen has extensive experience in evaluating Energy Saving Devices and assessing the requirements and performance of alternative fuels onboard ships. Widely consulted on the integration of low‑carbon fuels and zero‑emission technologies, he has also provided technical leadership on multiple projects involving the design and installation of battery energy storage systems across a wide range of vessel types.