The Marine and Energy Insurance Conference came to a close on Tuesday, 9/17/2019.  The event was held at the Westin Galleria, off of West Alabama.  I can not believe just how much insurance you need to get a plant up and running in this business.

One of the things we talked about at the meeting was the value of digital twins.  Workers in a chemical plant must be trained to do their jobs.  A digital twin is a great economic way of getting that done using virtual reality.  Since the training is done on a computer, the activity can be recorded, verified, and filed away for reference.

But the presentation that really caught my eye was that by William Juska, Freehill Hogan and Mahar, “US Sanctions:  The Changing Landscape”.  Juska gave us a 50 year review of US sanctions on the global scene:  Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran again.  The main point of the presentation is that. in this environment, one has to be very careful; because the most benign interaction with a sanctioned country could lead to big suspicions.  Juska said that a few years ago, he paid for the airline tickets of a detained cargo crew, and later was reimbursed by the Cuban government – he got flagged.  He says that the rules of the road in this game are vague and one must use careful judgement.

For more information on this and future events, please visit their website:  https://houstonmeic.com/  See you there!