Meet our team

James Forsdyke, Managing Director of The Decarb Hub, joined Lloyd’s Register (LR) in 2006 while earning a Master of Engineering degree in Naval Architecture from the University of Southampton.

Over his career at LR, James has held various technical, commercial, and leadership roles globally. His experience spans marine surveyor positions in Italy, Dubai, and China, to commercial and general management roles in the UK, Hong Kong and Singapore. Now based in Singapore, James leverages his extensive international experience to lead decarbonisation initiatives within the maritime sector. His leadership from LR’s headquarters in the UK to his current role underscores his dedication to advancing sustainable maritime practices worldwide.

James's expertise and commitment to innovation position him as a key figure in driving the industry towards a greener future.

Dr. Carlo Raucci has more than 14 years of experience in research on shipping, climate change, energy systems transition, and low-carbon transportation.

Carlo also has extensive experience in the development of data analytics models, such as models for assessing the evolution of a fleet, models to assess the competitiveness of zero-emissions vessels and models to forecast future zero-carbon fuel prices.

Carlo holds a PhD in Energy and Transport from University College London, where his dissertation focused on 'The potential of hydrogen as a fuel for shipping'. His research is one of the first to suggest the use of hydrogen to decarbonise the shipping industry. He has also authored several publications on the topic of transition to zero-emissions vessels and delivered a number of projects advising governments, international organisations, shipping companies and port authorities on decarbonisation strategy

Alan Jones brings to the Decarb Hub, almost 30 years of Human Factors and Engineering knowledge through his experience in several key technical lead and senior management positions at various top tier companies, mainly focused on the aerospace and energy domains dealing with critical and high hazard operations.

This experience has covered interactions with regulators, original equipment manufacturers, designers, operators, and government bodies, revolving around creating novel design and operational solutions, achieved through the implementation of Verification and Validation processes, Operational Safety Cases, Release to Service and Certification programmes. These interactions have been associated with transport and infrastructure capabilities across both the military and civil sector.

Alan also brings prior experience of decarbonisation programmes through engagement with the UK government Future Flight Challenge, which, like the maritime sector, aims to decrease the carbon footprint to net zero by 2050. The combination of his knowledge and experience provides the Decarb Hub with the gravitas to help guide the maritime industry into an era of enhanced operator safety within a new technological environment.

Ahila Karan, Senior Lead on Green Initiatives, led the launch of the Silk Alliance Green Corridor Cluster to catalyse bunkering of alternative fuels in Singapore, and the Maritime Fuel Supply Dialogues, a regional initiative facilitating public/private dialogues across the energy and transport sectors to accelerate hydrogen-based fuel supply development across Asia Pacific and Africa. She has more than 7 years of experience covering global energy markets, with a particular focus on transportation fuels and the cleaner fuels transition.

Ahila holds a Master of Science degree in Economics from University College London and previously worked at oil trading company Trafigura as the Global Distillates Analyst where she was also involved in producing analysis on shipping industry trends and fleet analysis. Prior to this, Ahila worked at S&P Global, reporting on major energy news and the latest environmental policy changes affecting the shipping and road fuels industries.

Dr. Charlie McKinlay is a researcher in the field of maritime decarbonisation and is the Fuels and Technologies Lead at The Decarb Hub, where he is a key team lead for the Silk Alliance Green Corridor Cluster initiative for shipping, focused on bunkering alternative fuels in Singapore. He is also a lead author of the Decarb Hub's “Future of Maritime Fuels” report presenting a review of a wide range of fuel mix projections and key alternative fuel paths that will steer shipping’s course towards its net-zero ambitions by 2050, and works with the Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance (ZEMBA) on the development of the ZEMBA tenders to drive zero-emission shipping.

Charlie holds a PhD in Dynamic Energy System Modelling from the University of Southampton, where he researched transition technologies for viable zero-emissions shipping solutions, such as fuel cells, energy saving technologies, and smart energy management. His professional research expertise in the field of maritime decarbonisation covers clean maritime fuels, encompassing the whole value chain, from sustainable and scalable supply chains to efficient onboard deployment.

Dana Rodriguez helps to manage the Decarb Hub's programme initiatives like the Maritime Fuel Supply Dialogues, which aims to unlock the potential for clean and sustainable maritime fuels through dialogue and collaboration amongst energy and transport ministries across Asia Pacific and Africa.

Prior to the Decarb Hub, Dana was a senior analyst at the Environmental Defense Fund, where she focused on developing port decarbonisation strategies and sustainable shipping finance models and policy. She has also worked at the Aspen Institute where she was involved with the creation of coZEV (Cargo Owners for Zero Emission Vessels) and the inception of ZEMBA (Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance).

Coming from a public sector background, including the UN system and US State Department, Dana is passionate about finding innovative solutions to decarbonise the maritime sector in a sustainable way. She has a bachelor’s degree in international relations from The University of Texas at Austin and holds a master's degree in politics and public administration from The University of Konstanz.

Natassa Kouvertari holds the role of the Senior Lead – Human Competency within the Human Safety & Risk team, representing The Decarb Hub as a project manager in the ‘baseline training for seafarers in decarbonisation’ project led by the Maritime Just Transition Taskforce, the first global sectoral task force dedicated to a just transition. She also facilitates the work on the implementation of The Silk Alliance Green Corridor Cluster , which focuses on the uptake of sustainable maritime fuels in Singapore as a key bunkering Hub in the Asia-Pacific region.

Natassa first joined Lloyd’s Register in 2004 supporting the marine business functions of the Organisation and has, since then, undertaken several positions as environmental specialist, product manager and project manager in Marine & Offshore.

Natassa holds a Master of Science in Environment & Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and has built up professional expertise in managing projects related to GHG emission reduction, new fuels adoption and workforce training for shipping’s green transition. She is also an Associate Member with the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) and has a genuine interest in projects that foster innovation towards a sustainable and equitable ocean economy.

Denise McCafferty is our Senior Human Factors Specialist, with professional expertise in generating design and operational excellence by effectively blending people, processes, systems and technology.

For more than 40 years, Denise’s career has been dedicated to improving organisational performance through the application of human factors, ergonomics, process safety, environmental and risk assessment principles to marine and industrial settings. She facilitates design and operational excellence by expertly blending people, processes, and technology. Her experience extends to marine, cargo, and cruise; oil and gas, offshore and onshore; chemical manufacture; and nuclear. Most recently, she has been involved with a variety of decarbonization projects identifying human factors considerations related to alternative fuel use or carbon dioxide capture. The outputs of much of this work have been publicly published and featured on the LR website.

Currently, Denise is engaged with projects to identify seafarer competencies and training for the use alternative fuel for the Marine Just Transition Task Force and for the Maersk McKinney Moller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping. Denise holds a unique perspective for applying effective, practical solutions to challenging situations within diverse workplaces.

Jonathan joined the Decarb Hub as Risk Analyst for the Human Safety & Risk team following his graduation in the summer of 2024 with a Master of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering) from the University of Bath. He is responsible for helping to deliver projects which focus on understanding and minimising the risks associated with the rollout of alternative fuels sources within the industry.

Prior to joining The Decarb Hub, Jonathan has had industry experience within the pharmaceutical GMP (good manufacturing practice) systems environment, as well as practical engineering design experience as part of the winning international HeartHackthon - Team Bath Heart, a multi-discipline student team focused on designing and prototyping an artificial heart. Connect with Jonathan on LinkedIn to learn more about his

Magdalene Tan manages marketing campaigns to communicate the results of the Decarb Hub’s programmes to stakeholders across shipping’s energy supply chain, with the objective of driving positive change in the maritime industry and other key sectors central in the global energy transition. She seeks to position the Decarb Hub as a key convener of cross-sectoral industry dialogue on technological, societal and investment challenges and opportunities of decarbonising international shipping.

Prior to her current role, Magdalene spearheaded event and digital content marketing at the Asia Pacific South office of global 3D software technology leader, Dassault Systèmes, organising company’s annual 3DEXPERIENCE Forum for over 2,000 sales partners in the region, and worked as Corporate Communications Advisor at American President Lines (now part of CMA-CGM), managing the carrier’s media relations and social media content. She started her communications career as a principal consultant at global public relations agency, Citigate Dewe Rogerson, following a stint in education after completing her M.A. and B.A. in Linguistics at the National University of Singapore.