Shipbroker Marygrace Collins of US based Bulkore Chartering Inc was elected as President of The Federation of National Associations of Shipbrokers and Agents (FONASBA) at the organisation’s 43rd Annual Meeting in Venice on Friday 12 October. She succeeds Christakis Papavassiliou who steps down after his two year term of office.

“I’m delighted and honoured to have been elected as president of an organisation which provides a united voice for the world’s shipbrokers and agents. We will continue to work hard to promote fair and equitable practices and ensure that the needs of our members are understood at both a governmental level and across the maritime industry,” said Marygrace Collins.

Thanking Chris Papavassiliou, she noted that FONASBA would be concentrating its efforts to get more companies to sign up to the FONASBA Quality Standard in 2013. Launched in 2007, the FONASBA Quality Standard is designed to assist shipowners and operators to identify those agents and brokers who are well-funded and demonstrate a tangible commitment to quality. Another goal of Mrs. Collins’ term of office will be to further promote the importance of education and training within the membership. FONASBA’s efforts in this regard have also been bolstered by the appointment of Capt. Jakov Karmelic as Vice President for Education, whose role is to coordinate the education programmes provided within the Federation’s membership.

Based at London’s Baltic Exchange, FONASBA is made up of 39 national associations of shipbrokers and agents with a further 11 countries represented by associate or candidate members.

Marygrace Collins has been a shipbroker since 1982 and is currently Vice-President of New York based Bulkore Chartering Inc. She has been a FONASBA director since 2006. She served on the Association of. Ship Brokers & Agents (USA) (ASBA) between 1995 and 2008 and was the association’s first female president. She was educated Georgetown and Saint Leo universities and holds a bachelor’s degree in Portuguese. Throughout her career she has worked for several multinational mining companies involved largely in the iron ore trade. She remains active in ASBA, as conference Chair for its annual Cargo Conference and as a moderator for the Association’s Home Study Course, “The Basic Principles of Chartering”. Mrs. Collins is a member of WISTA, the Connecticut Maritime Association, and  serves on the Industry Advisory Board of the Global Business and Transportation Department of the Maritime College of the State University of New York.

For further details please contact Jonathan Williams, General Manager, FONASBA

Tel: + 44 20 7623 3113, E-mail: generalmanager@fonasba.com

Notes to Editors

FONASBA is the only organisation representing the global ship agency and ship broking professions. Established in 1969 it now has members in 50 countries. Its remit is to “promote and protect the professions of ship agency and ship broking worldwide”, a task which it undertakes through dialogue with its member associations and with IMO, UNCTAD, UNCITRAL and WCO, as well as through dialogue with the European Commission and other regional bodies. FONASBA also enjoys reciprocal memberships with the Baltic Exchange, BIMCO, INTERTANKO, indemnity insurer ITIC and the Shipbrokers’ Register and works closely with other bodies, both internationally and in Europe.