The Baltic Exchange welcomed over 100 maritime professionals to its FFA & Risk Management Forum on 8 May 2025 at the Vida Emirates Hills Hotel in Dubai.

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The afternoon began with an update from Chief Commercial Officer Janet Sykes, followed by Stephen Aitchison, Senior Freight Market Assessor at the Baltic Exchange, who shared insights on operational benchmarking. Roar Adland, Global Head of Research at SSY, delivered an engaging presentation on the impact of US policy shifts on dry bulk trades and the global fleet.

Martin Crawford-Brunt, Emissions Lead at the Baltic Exchange, chaired the Carbon Emissions Panel with contributions from Sarah Saeed Al Qahtani, Commercial and Operations Manager at Bahri Dry Bulk; Tim Coffin, CEO of Eships; and Jamil Al Ali, Middle East Commercial and BD Director at Bureau Veritas.

Stephen Aitchison returned to chair the Dry Freight FFA Panel, featuring Andy Hawtin, Business Development Manager at Clarksons; Chris Baxter, Partner FFA Dubai at SSY; and Jeffrey Yao, Managing Director at Profision Shipping Capital Management.

The event concluded with a lively audience Q&A and networking reception, offering attendees the chance to continue discussions on key market developments.

Thank you to all speakers, panellists and guests for making this year’s forum such a valuable and well-attended event.