Marisa Hernandez, an associate at ISOLAS recently participated in the organisation and delivery of a 2 day conference in the capital city of Oslo, Norway, focusing on the current challenges in ship and aviation financing. The event was organised as part of a series of global events organised by the Association International de Jeunes Avocats, the International Young Lawyers’ Association (AIJA).
Ms Hernandez is an active member of AIJA and was part of the organising committing for the conference in Oslo. As a member of the banking and finance and transport law commissions within AIJA, Marisa signed up to become part of the organisation in 2014. In the run up to the Oslo conference, Ms Hernandez assisted in all aspects of preparation and was involved from the outset in assisting the organising team in the preparation of the scientific programme and pinning down the topics of discussions and speakers for the event. Ms Hernandez then went on to moderate a panel on ship and aircraft registration and reflagging with speakers ranging from top London lawyers to in house lawyers for some of the most prominent Norwegian shipping companies. Ms Hernandez also had the pleasure of having Rob Cumbes, Chief Surveyor of the Gibraltar Maritime Authority addressing the participants on ship registration in Gibraltar and the current challenges facing Flag State.
The conference saw some 80 participants travelling to Oslo for the event which included sessions on a variety of areas relevant to the industry which were widely welcomed as topical and, in some cases, very timely indeed. Ms Hernandez explained that “this was the first time I had been involved in a project of this size and complexity in the AIJA context and it has been a thoroughly positive experience. It was an enjoyable couple of days, a bonus in the context of the ‘traditional’ industry conference, something the organising committee worked hard to avoid as far as possible.
The fact that the event was a huge success has been very encouraging and I look forward to assisting with further initiatives of this kind, playing my part in getting the Gibraltar message out to the widest audience possible.”
