Peter Astbury

An experienced negotiator resolving sensitive situations in challenging environments

A successful track record over almost two decades acting on the front line on behalf of ship operators, marine insurers, multilateral agencies, states and NGOs.

  • Helping to resolve high-value, difficult ship arrests and detentions, and other sensitive or dangerous situations where lives were at risk.

  • Deploying in Bangladesh, Canary Islands, Denmark, Dubai, Djibouti, DR Congo, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Germany, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Libya, Madagascar, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, United Kingdom and Yemen.

  • Helping to safely and discreetly resolve numerous ship hijacks and kidnaps in Somalia, the Gulf of Guinea and southern Philippines, in various roles including strategic decision-making, communications with the kidnappers and the safe extraction of hostages.

  • Briefing the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Somalia on Somali piracy.

  • Evaluating logistics and development aid projects and personnel issues in hard to reach, post-conflict countries and emerging economies.

  • Contributing by bilateral invitation to a study of governance options for deep sea fishing in a two-nation, joint development zone.

  • Mentoring and supporting a developing country’s negotiations to control the access of foreign, deep water fishing fleets into its territorial waters and Economic Exclusion Zone.

My early career was in shipbroking and ship agency in London and the Philippines, followed by a lengthy period in marine insurance where I became a country director for a large shipowners’ mutual insurance club.

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