Bahamas Shipowners Association’s Annual General Meeting 2026
📅 January 29, 2026
📍 Trinity House, London
💻 Hybrid format: In-person & via Teams webinar
The Chair of the Bahamas Shipowners Association, Capt. Domenico Rognoni, is pleased to announce that the BSA Annual General Meeting will be held on Thursday, January 29, 2026, at Trinity House in London, and will be followed by a reception.
This year’s AGM will feature the theme “Threats to Shipping”, addressing the evolving risks and challenges facing the global maritime sector.
We are honored to welcome Mr. Thomas A. Kazakos, newly appointed Secretary General of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), as our keynote speaker.
📩 BSA members and invited guests are encouraged to attend in person or join remotely via Teams.
Register using the registration links below:
- For Physical attendance, please register here.
- For Digital attendance, please register here.
Below, find the full agenda of the Meeting and the speakers’ profiles:
Agenda of the BSA Annual General Meeting 2026
| 13.15 (UK) | Webinar Lobby Open |
|---|---|
| 13.30 | Opening Remarks & AGM Report
|
| 13.45 | BMA Perspective
|
| 14.00 | AGM Formalities
|
Financial Report 2024-2025
|
|
| 14.15 | Keynote Address
|
| 14.45 | Cyber Security – Threats to Shipping
|
| 15.15 | Maritime security, geopolitics, and the challenges facing the international rule-based order at sea
|
| 15.45 | Panel Discussion and Q&A |
| 16.15 | Closing Remarks
|
| 16.30 | AGM Close |
Speakers’ Profiles
Thomas A. Kazakos
Thomas A. Kazakos is the Secretary General of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), having previously served as Director General of the Cyprus Shipping Chamber (CSC), the representative National-Member Association of Cyprus at ICS, since 1995.
Thomas studied at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom obtaining a Bachelor’s Degree in Law (LL.B) and a Master‘s Degree in European and International Trade Law (LL.M). Thomas began his professional career at the Cyprus Employers and Industrialists Federation prior to joining the Cyprus Shipping Chamber. Internationally Thomas has represented Cyprus on the board of ICS and the European Community Shipowners’ Association (ECSA) in addition to being an Administrative Board member of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA).
Viurniel Sanchez
Viurniel Sanchez currently serves as the Sr. Director of Maritime Cyber Safety Engineering at Carnival Corporation, the world’s largest leisure travel company. Since joining Carnival in 2018, Viurniel has played a pivotal role as a co-founder of the company’s Operational Technology (OT) cybersecurity practice, helping to establish and mature its foundational capabilities across the global fleet. His leadership has been instrumental in shaping the strategic direction of maritime cyber safety initiatives. Prior to his current role, Viurniel served as both Program Manager and Project Manager, successfully leading the delivery of multiple global cybersecurity projects.
Before assuming his current role at Carnival, Viurniel spent seven years as a Principal Analyst at NextEra Energy, the world’s largest utility company. There, he played a pivotal role in modernizing their energy control center and securing critical infrastructure across the United States. He also served as a Project Coordinator at CompuCom, a leading provider of Managed IT Services, and as a Project Manager in the Construction Industry.
Viurniel graduated with a bachelor’s and master’s in science in Electrical Engineering. He also holds Six Sigma and Kanban certifications. He is a lifetime member of the IEEE-HKN and DEI honor societies. In his leisure time, Viurniel enjoys working on inventions, riding motorcycles and racing cars at local tracks.
Basil Germond
Basil Germonasil Germond, SFHEA, FRGS, is Professor of International Security at Lancaster University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and holds a Visiting Fellowship at the Royal Navy Strategic Studies Centre.
His work focuses primarily on naval and maritime affairs, maritime security, and the geopolitics of the maritime domain.
Professor Germond holds a PhD in International Relations from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva. Prior to joining Lancaster University in 2011, he was a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Oxford and a Research Fellow at the University of St Andrews. He was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2015 and, in 2022, to Chair of International Security at Lancaster University.
He participated in the consultation process for the drafting of the UK’s 2022 National Strategy for Maritime Security and has repeatedly given evidence to committees of both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
His work has been published in a wide range of academic journals, including Territory, Politics, Governance; The Australian Naval Review; Climatic Change; The Geographical Journal; Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences; Marine Policy; Science of the Total Environment; European Foreign Affairs Review; and Global Policy. He is also a frequent contributor to The Conversation.
