Managing Committee

Corah Ann Robertson-Sylvester was educated at Campion College; the University of the West Indies; the Norwegian Shipping Academy (Norway) and the UNCTAD – Trainmar Instructor’s Workshop.

Mrs Robertson-Sylvester has been in the shipping industry for over 26 years.  She started as Line Manager and subsequently Sales and Marketing Manager at Kirk Line; and, Project Manager for Coastal Shipping/Interseas.  She was Director of Sales and Marketing at Jamaica Freight and Shipping where she managed sales, marketing and advertising for the lines represented, including Seaboard Marine, Jamaica Producers Shipping Co., Kent Line and Ivaran Shipping and Mitsui.

Mrs Robertson-Sylvester is at present the Chief Executive Officer of Seaboard Freight & Shipping Jamaica Ltd., a subsidiary of Seaboard Marine Ltd. located in Miami, USA.

From 2000 – 2003, Mrs Robertson-Sylvester was the Vice President of the Caribbean Shipping Association (CSA), an Association which was established in 1971 to facilitate development of an efficient, viable Caribbean shipping industry.  In 2003, she became the first female President of the 35-year-old CSA.  She was again elected as the President of the CSA in 2005.

Mrs Robertson-Sylvester has been a Director of the Shipping Association of Jamaica (SAJ) since 2005, Jamaica Freight & Shipping (JFS) since 1998 and Assessment Recoveries Ltd. (ARL) since 2006.  She also served as a Director of the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) from 2007 to 2012.  In May 2016, she was appointed chair of the Maritime Authority of Jamaica (MAJ).  She also serves as a council member of the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU).

She has served the Hillel Academy as Parent Teachers’ Association Class Representative from 2003 -2014 in various capacities, and is presently serving as Class Representative for the Campion College Home School Association.

Married to Courtney, they have three lovely children, Emmanuel, Jessica and Benjamin.

Andre Rochester is the Group Lead – Business and Logistics Processes Development at Maritime and Transport Services Limited. Mr Rochester is a trustee of the Maritime Group Pension Fund.

He started his career in shipping in 1982 in a clerical capacity with Terminal Services Limited, a division of GraceKennedy which operated a fleet of trucks/drivers and a cadre of stevedores on the terminal. After briefly leaving the sector for a stint in Insurance and Real Estate, Mr Rochester officially signalled his return to the shipping industry by opting to take up a supervisory position at Maersk Jamaica in 1993.

He then served in a supervisory capacity at Transocean before moving on to Maritime and Transport Services, in a similar capacity, ultimately ascending to the position he holds today.

William A. Brown is a Chartered Accountant & Certified International Trade Professional, specialising in fraud, inventory logistics, shipping agency forensics, as well as international trade investigations under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Mr Brown is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Jamaica (ICAJ), and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). He is an honours graduate of the University of the West Indies, graduate of ACCA Consortium for Professional Accountants, and Forum for International Trade Training. He is also a past student of Rusea’s High School.

He is the Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Cascades Ventures Group which includes Cascades Ventures & Equities Limited, Atlantic Shipping & Cargo Services Limited, Cascades Vessel and Shipping Services Limited and Cian Development Limited.

Mr Brown is former President of the Shipping Association of Jamaica and Vice-President of the Caribbean Shipping Association. He also serves as Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Maritime Authority of Jamaica and chairs the Jamaican Government’s Enterprise Committee for the Privatisation Jamaica’s Ship Registry. He serves on the Boards of Directors of SAJE Logistics Infrastructure Limited, Assessment Recoveries Limited, and ADVANTUM (Port Computer Services Limited.

He also chairs the Board of Trustees of the Metro Investments Limited Pension Fund and is a Trustee of the Kingston Port Workers Superannuation Fund.

Anna Hamilton is the chief executive officer of the Jamaica Freight and Shipping Company since 2020.

Prior to her current role, Ms Hamilton was the sales and marketing manager of that company for six years.

Ms Hamilton joins the Managing Committee of the Shipping Association of Jamaica with over a decade of experience in the industry, having started as an account executive at Seaboard Jamaica in 2000.

A fluent Spanish speaker, Hamilton is also the chairman of the SAJ Agents’ Committee.

She is a graduate of the Long Island University in New York and has a Bachelor of Arts, as well as a graduate degree in political science.

The Pi Sigma Alpha member also holds professional certification in customs regulations, processes, and brokerage from the Management Institute for National Development.

Charles Johnston is the Executive Chairman of Jamaica Fruit & Shipping Company and its subsidiaries. He has been in the shipping and produce-export business since 1964 and has been a member of the Managing Committee of the SAJ with few interruptions since 1976.

Mr Johnston is the Chairman of Jamaica Producers Group Ltd., Seaboard Freight & Shipping Company Ltd., and is the Deputy Chairman of German Ship Repair Ja Ltd. He also serves as a director on other boards including: B & D Trawling Ltd., the Jamaica Public Service Company Ltd., Kingston Logistics Centre, Kingston Wharves Ltd., Lennox Portland Ltd. and SAJE Logistics Infrastructure Limited.

Mr Johnston is a 2006 recipient of the National Award of the Order of Distinction, Commander Class and was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica in 2008.  In 2018, the degree of Doctor of Science in International Shipping, honoris causa, was conferred upon him. He is a member of the Kings House Foundation and the Spanish Jamaica Foundation. Mr Johnston is a past student of Jamaica College and holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Finance and Commerce.

Condell Stephenson joins the Managing Committee with five decades’ experience in shipping.

Mr Stephenson is the port captain of Hoegh Autoliners after beginning his career as an accounting clerk at Kingston Wharves Limited in 1971.

He is a graduate of the College of Arts, Science and Technology (now the University of Technology) and the University of Wales in the United Kingdom, where he received a certification in business studies and a Bachelor of Science in maritime studies, respectively.

Mr Stephenson is the chairman for the Joint Industrial Council (JIC) of the Port of Kingston and the SAJ Staff Pension Fund.

He is also president of the C&WJ Co-operative Credit Union Limited; chairman of the Rotary Club of Kingston Major Projects; director of International Shipping Limited and director of Gateway Shipping International.

Denise Lyn Fatt was the first female President of the Shipping Association of Jamaica. Before being elected to the role of President, she served as chairman of the Agents’ Committee of the SAJ and has been a member of the SAJ’s Managing Committee since 2009. She has been an active member of the SAJ’s Agents’ Committee since 1976.

Mrs Lyn Fatt is the Managing Director of Freight Handlers Limited, a company she started with her husband in 1988. Prior to starting her own company, she served at a management level in shipping and other sectors: Managing Director for Ocean Air International Limited; Senior Supply Assistant for the United Nations Children’s Fund; and Traffic Manager for InterFreight Agencies Limited.

She is also a member of Women in Maritime Caribbean.  An Ex-Officio President of the St. Hugh’s High School Past Students’ Association, Mrs Lyn Fatt is a graduate of the University of the West Indies with a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and History. She is also a graduate of the Norwegian Shipping Academy with a Post Graduate Diploma in Professional Shipping.

Grantley Stephenson is Deputy Chairman of Kingston Wharves Group. Between 2004 and 2020, Mr Stephenson served as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and previously held dual roles of Executive Chairman and CEO between 2003 – 2009 and 2011 – 2013.

Mr Stephenson was conferred the Honorary Doctor of Science in Port Management by the Caribbean Maritime University in 2017. He received the 2015 ‘Manager of the Year’ Award from the Jamaica Institute of Management and was ranked the No. 1 CEO among all companies trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange by the Businessuite Magazine in 2010. He is also a fellow of the Jamaica Institute of Management.

Mr Stephenson served as Honorary Consul General of the Kingdom of Norway to Jamaica from 1998 to 2021 and is a Past Dean of the Consular Corps of Jamaica. In 2013, he was awarded the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit, the highest non-national award.

He also serves on other boards and committee associations such as Jamaica Producers Group, Security Administrators Limited, Shipping Association of Jamaica, SAJE Logistics Infrastructure Limited, Assessment Recoveries Limited, Ports Management and Security Limited, ADVANTUM and he is the Chairman of the Board of Managers of the Shortwood Teachers College.

Kim Clarke was President of the Shipping Association of Jamaica (SAJ) in 2012-2017. Prior to becoming President, he served the SAJ in capacity of Vice President from 2009 – 2012. Mr Clarke is a second-generation family member to enter the shipping industry. His father Hylton Clarke was part-owner of the Maritime Transport Group of Companies. In 2002, he became a member of the SAJ’s Managing Committee making him and his father the first father-son team to sit on the Committee simultaneously.

Mr Clarke’s work experience in the shipping industry began in 1990 at Kirk Line Inc. in Miami where he was a Documentation Clerk. He quickly moved up the ranks a year later to Documentation Manager. Returning to Jamaica in 1991, he became Director of Maritime and Transport Group of Companies. He now serves as Managing Director of this group of companies. The Group consists of Maritime and Transport Services Limited, Maritime Towing Company Limited, A. E. Parnell and Company Limited, Parnell Investment Limited and Seaport Equipment Limited.

He is also a director of Kingston Wharves Limited, Newport Fersan Jamaica Limited, R.S. Gamble Limited, Arnold L. Malabre & Company Limited, SAJ Properties Limited and is Managing Director of Boat Services Ltd.

Mr Clarke is a graduate of the University of Miami.

Roger Hinds has been a member of the Managing Committee for many years and has served as Vice President and then President of the SAJ from 2006 to 2008 and from 2008 to 2012 respectively. He remains active on its board as well as on the board of the SAJE Logistics Infrastructure Limited. He served in the Caribbean Shipping Association’s General Council for six years, three of which were as chairman of the Agents’ Committee.

A native of Barbados, and a graduate of the University of the West Indies, Mr Hinds has been working in Jamaica’s maritime sector since 1982. He is the Chairman of Transocean Shipping Limited, the Founder and Chairman of Transport Logistics Limited and Marine Haulage Services Limited.

He is currently the Managing Director of MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company Jamaica Limited, but continues to make a contribution to the maritime sector in general by serving on the boards of Kingston Wharves Limited, (ten of those years being in the capacity of Company Secretary). He is a past member of the council for the Caribbean Maritime University.

Mr Hinds earned his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Science degrees from the University of the West Indies. He is a founding and still active member of the Rotary Club of St Andrew North, an avid reader and a fitness enthusiast.

Captain Jedrzej Mierzewski was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Kingston Freeport Terminal Limited in July 2021.

Born in Poland, Jedrzej is a Master Mariner by profession who has combined his engineering training with studies in maritime transport and vessel and fleet management to craft a successful international career in terminal and port management and development, with various roles at ports and terminals in North and West Africa, Europe, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

An innovative and analytical strategist, Jedrzej has worked on greenfield, privatization and expansion projects where he has built a track record in strategic planning & development, global port & terminal leadership, profit growth & cost reduction, process analysis & improvement, relationship building, project management, lean methodology, staff training & leadership and problem resolution.

Jedrzej enjoys travelling, cycling and photography and he speaks fluent Polish, English and Russian.

Neil A. Smith is an experienced leader in the maritime and logistics industry, with specialised expertise in import/export consolidations and technology integration. His career began at Caribbean Ocean Logistics in Miami, Florida, where he advanced from a Management Trainee to Office Manager. He then took on the role of Managing Director at Regflo Agencies Limited in Jamaica, followed by a tenure as Deputy Chairman of Shipping Services Group of Companies (SSL). In 2022, Mr Smith was appointed CEO of SSL, where he continues to drive strategic growth.

A graduate of the University of Central Florida, Orlando, he holds a Bachelor of Science degree and is committed to professional development through certifications and training in logistics and trade. Actively involved in industry organisations, he serves as Deputy Chair of the Shipping Association of Jamaica’s Agents’ Committee and is a Director of the SAJ.

Beyond his professional pursuits, he enjoys international travel, scuba diving, and golfing.

Trevor Riley is the Chief Executive Officer of the SAJ and related companies. He leads a team of over 400 persons providing a range of services, including the supply of labour, security and Information Technology services to the Port of Kingston; as well as property services and investments.

Mr Riley worked previously in banking, tourism and media. A Justice of the Peace for the Parish of Kingston, he holds a Master of Business Administration degree (Kingston, UK), the Bachelor of Laws degree (Upper Second-Class Honours) from the University of Technology, the Diploma in Mass Communications, (UWI) and the Diploma in Journalism from the International Institute for Journalism, (IIJ) Berlin, Germany. He is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (MCIM), United Kingdom and has also completed the Harvard University Programme on Negotiation. He is a past president of the Rotary Club of Liguanea Plains and sits on the Advisory Board of the University of Technology Jamaica, Faculty of Law.

Mr Riley serves as a member of the council of the Caribbean Maritime University, Company Secretary for Advantum, formerly Port Computer Services Limited, and also for Assessment Recoveries Limited (ARL). He is a Trustee of the Kingston Portworkers Superannuation Fund and the SAJ Staff Pension Fund and is a director of SAJE Logistics Infrastructure Limited and its subsidiaries.