HOW TO MAKE A DUE DILIGENCE ON A REFIT SHIPYARD?

Rob Papworth graduated from Southampton University in 1995 with a degree in Ship Science. After spending a few years pursuing his passion for sailboat racing in the superyacht world, he transitioned ashore in 1998 to begin his first composite yacht build. This initial experience sparked a decade-long career in the construction of high-tech composite sailing yachts, including several prestigious projects for the America’s Cup and Volvo Ocean Race.

In 2001, Rob moved to the South of France, where he entered the yacht refit industry with Compositeworks, eventually becoming a shareholder in the company. When Compositeworks was acquired by MB92 in 2017, Rob stayed on in La Ciotat to lead operations,  where he continues to serve Managing Director. For the past decade, he has also served as Chairman of the ICOMIA Superyacht Refit Group, contributing his expertise to industry standards and best practices.

Rob still resides in the South of France, an ideal setting for enjoying both his love of the sailing and skiing with his wife and 2 children.

Michelle Van der Merwe has been working at Pantaenius Monaco for 18 years and is responsible for managing the English language superyacht team, both for sales/new business and underwriting/administration. The Monaco office is the 2nd biggest office in the group and one of the leading providers of yacht insurance in Europe.

She has worked in insurance for 30 years and started her career in corporate private medical insurance in the UK with PPP Healthcare (now AXA PPP), moving to QBE Insurance as a Client Services Manager and then to AIG as Healthcare Claims Manager. 

Michelle has extensive experience in yacht insurance underwriting, product development, provision of excellent customer service and the management of client relationships. 

Dean Smith runs Hampshire Marine a company specialising in large yacht refit supervison and new construction. He has worked in the superyacht industry for over 25 years gaining the ear of owners and industry for his straightforward approach to large project execution.

Having studied commercial shipbroking he was keen to move into the yachting industry and eventually joined Devonport shipyard in the UK leading their business development to win the build of such vessels as the 96m VAVA II.

Currently Hampshire Marine is monitoring several large refit projects throughout Europe and Dean follows many personally on the ground, enjoying the interaction with all the key members of the shipyard teams.

Anthony is dedicated to assisting yacht owners, owner representatives, advisors providing consultancy and corporate structuring services, as well as advising and supporting on the purchase/sale contracts, tax and VAT compliance, yacht registration and yacht finance. As the Founder of AG Advisory Ltd, his aim is to use the expertise and experience of the last 20 years to assist owners and their reps to manage their business and toys across the globe.
 
Dr Anthony Galea holds a Doctor of Laws from University of Malta and is vastly experienced in providing advisory and consultancy services, in various aspects of the yachting and aviation industries. Anthony’s career started in Malta and for many years he worked in local firms garnering the experience which serves him until today in the civil and corporate world, as well as in litigation. He helped set up DF Marine and later went on to set up and manage Vistra Marine & Aviation Limited. Anthony currently serves on many industry related Boards - mainly the Malta Maritime Law Association,  the Malta Chamber of Commerce Yachting Division, and the working group established to create a Superyacht Policy for Malta. In the international space, noteworthy is Anthony’s involvement in The Superyacht Alliance for Professional Standards and his participation as speaker or presenter of papers on various industry panels during the years.