The Melbourne Marine Insurance Forum Presents: Karwei So and Tim Moss on the Challenges with Shipping Electric Vehicles and Possible Solutions

The Melbourne Marine Insurance Forum Presents (by webinar only) on Wednesday, 26 July 2023 at 11.30am:

Challenges with Shipping Electric Vehicles and Possible Solutions

Register and Log into the webinar via: https://ColinBiggersandPaisley.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pdbVpcqzSdeW84-9dIC5vg

 As we move towards greener technologies, lithium-ion batteries have become prevalent in our everyday technologies, ranging from small devices such as mobile phones through to larger products such as electric vehicles and even electric buses. However, this technology does not come without risks- when lithium-ion batteries are mistreated or mishandled, it can lead to catastrophic fires that burn at high temperatures. This presentation aims to discuss the science behind batteries and why these fires can occur before moving on to discuss the specific challenges when a fire occurs onboard vessels such as Ro-Ros and Ro-Pax vessels. We will conclude by discussing possible approaches when shipping these electric vehicles.

A bit about our presenter

Dr Karwei So: Dr Karwei So is a Managing Scientist based in Hong Kong. She has a Masters in Chemistry and DPhil in Materials Science. Following the completion of her doctorate, she joined Brookes Bell in 2019.  Her role includes advising on the safe carriage of Group A cargoes and investigates the cause of damage to a range of commodities including grains, liquid cargoes, containerised goods, and bagged chemicals. She provides advice on laboratory analyses to be for contaminated cargoes and quality analysis. She has assisted in writing Loss Prevention articles, most recently, she was involved with writing the White Paper released by TT Club and UK P&I in collaboration with Brookes Bell.

Dr Tim Moss: After obtaining a Batchelors degree in Biochemistry and a Masters in Toxicology, Tim began a research assistantship for Unilver UK whilst conducting PhD research in Environmental and Occupational Medicine at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. After obtaining his doctorate, Tim started a new role as a study director at AgrEvo, a boutique agrochemical company which later became Aventis (later Sanofi). 23 year5s ago Tim began working as a cargo scientist at the old Jarret Kirman offices of what was then Brookes Bell Jarrett Kirman (near London) and is now Director of Science Asia for Brookes Bell, based in Singapore. His work involves investigating the cause, nature and extent of damage to a wide variety of cargoes, typically but not always involving marine transport. Being a scientist at Brookes Bell has seen Tim travel to over 50 countries, attend on hundreds of vessels and give evidence in over 20 arbitrations and hearings.