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Type
Conference

Working in the Wet 2026

Event organised by ICE

Date
23 April 2026
Time
08:30 - 17:00 BST (GMT+1)
Location
Southampton Football Club St Mary’s Stadium
Britannia Road
Southampton, SO14 5FP
United Kingdom

This event has now ended

Overview

Running since 2002, this popular biennial Conference is designed for industry professionals,
students and others connected to the maritime field to share knowledge, best practice and new innovations.

The full day conference will explore the insights and knowledge from industry experts in the following overarching themes

  • Project Showcases
  • Innovation and Technology
  • Climate Change Resilience
  • Buildability and Delivery

Pre-Conference Dinner

The pre-conference dinner hosted by Knights Brown on Wednesday 22 April 2026, will officially welcome attendees to the event, held at The Harbour Hotel, Southampton.

Principal Sponsor

Boskalis Westminster

Boskalis Westminster

Founded in 1933, Boskalis Westminster recently celebrated 90 years of providing innovative solutions to the UK marine construction and dredging market.

Event Sponsors

AWA Consulting Engineers

AWA Consulting Engineers

AWA Consulting Engineers (also known as Andrew Waring Associates) is an engineering practice of structural, civil and marine design consultants, established in 1987.

Bachy Soletanche

Bachy Soletanche

Bachy Soletanche is a worldwide, leading specialist in geotechnics and foundation engineering.

Bear Engineering Solutions

Bear Engineering Solutions

Engineering design consultancy specialising in the Marine & Coastal design and Temporary Works Design

CRL

CRL

CRL is a leading specialist asset maintenance contractor offering a full range of services to inspect, repair, rehabilitate, and strengthen marine concrete assets.

DEME

DEME

DEME is a world leader in the highly specialized fields of offshore energy, dredging, marine infrastructure, and environmental works.

Earlcoate Construction

Earlcoate Construction

Over the last 29 years, Earlcoate have built up a reputation as one of the South's leading civil engineering construction and plant hire companies.

GPS MACS

GPS MACS

Specialist Marine and Civil Contractor for Construction, Demolition and Maintenance

Herbosch-Kiere Marine Contractors

Herbosch-Kiere Marine Contractors

We have been building the infrastructure of today and tomorrow for more than a century. In, on or near to water.

Kaymac Marine & Civil Engineering Ltd.

Kaymac Marine & Civil Engineering Ltd.

Since 1976, we’ve worked to build our excellent reputation. Kaymac started as a small team of dive operatives specialising in underwater problem-solving.

Moffat & Nichol

Moffat & Nichol

A truly global infrastructure advisory firm, Moffatt & Nichol provides engineering and consulting services to clients in the marine terminal, transportation, energy, environmental, federal, and urban development markets around the world.

Robert West

Robert West

Since founding in 1977, we have been delivering projects for our clients across the UK. We are a medium sized practice with a strong marine sector, offering a 'hands on' management approach, and a people orientated business.

Waitings

Waitings

Waitings has steadily grown into one of the UK's leading Engineering & Plant hire contractors.

WSP

WSP

Harnessing innovation and sharing insights across our diverse, international team to create a tomorrow’s world that's cleaner, greener and safer.

Speakers

Alex Benfield

Alex Benfield

Marina Projects Ltd.

project manager

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Alex Benfield

An experienced marine leisure sector worker qualified in both Environmental Science and the management of sailing and watersports centres. This amalgamation of skills, industry knowledge and passion for sailing and water sports makes Alex a valuable asset to the Marina Projects team.

Alex has extensive experience in all aspects of Marine Licensing and consenting of works including Planning and Harbour Works Approvals, along with experience of shoreline management plans, marine protected areas and conservation developments and has been instrumental in many of the successes delivered by Marina Projects.

Alex has worked at a number of RYA training centres helping to provide first class teaching and instruction to
clients and has carried his professional approach and eye for detail through to his role with Marina Projects Ltd. Alex volunteers in his spare time as a Coastguard Rescue Officer for HM Coastguard, responding to maritime and shoreline emergency incidents in the Portsmouth Sector.

Alice Geradine

Alice Geradine

Marina Projects Ltd.

project manager

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Alice Geradine

Alice is a trained Hydrographic Surveyor with over 7 years’ experience conducting multibeam surveys, processing and interrogating data and delivering maintenance dredging within the ports and harbours sector. Additionally, Alice has planned dredge campaigns and constructed designs for multiple capital dredge projects performing precise volume calculations using complex models to inform contract decisions.

Within Marina Projects Alice uses her skills and previous technical experience to secure licences and consents for a wide array of projects across various clients whilst also designing, planning and delivering efficient and effective dredging across a range of UK-based marinas.

Jason Boulter

Jason Boulter

ABP

project manager

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Jason Boulter

Jason Boulter MEng CEng MICE is a client-side Project Manager for Associated British Ports (ABP). After 10 years working on the Isle of Wight Highways PFI contract,

Jason left his Senior Project Manager role having delivered a wide portfolio of interesting and challenging highway infrastructure projects.

Since joining ABP Southampton in August 2023, Jason has delivered the £17.5M Solent Gateway marine infrastructure project and is part of the engineering team leading the Solent Gateway 2 development.

Terry Fuller

Terry Fuller

Mackley

director of business growth

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Terry Fuller

Terry Fuller is a chartered engineer and water and environmental manager. His specialisms include water resourcing and flood and coastal risk management. He has produced feasibility studies and strategic plans for the design and construction of large projects around the world, always working to manage water in a sustainable way that accommodates and mitigates the effects of climate change. 

Most recently, Fuller was project director for the Havant Thicket reservoir – the first of its kind to be built in England for decades. Before that he was CEO of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management. In that role, he worked to disseminate knowledge, support its members’ professional development and influence policy and practice in the water sector.

Mark Glennerster

Mark Glennerster

Glennerster Consulting

managing director

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Mark Glennerster

Mark Glennerster is an ICE Fellow with over 38 years’ experience in coastal and marine structures. He provides technical advice to consultants, clients and contractors on topics from conceptual design to contract-related problems.

Glennerster has worked on breakwaters exposed to cyclones and typhoons, including the design and physical modelling of structures in these challenging conditions. He brings a holistic approach to projects, with extensive knowledge of construction techniques and health and safety issues. He is experienced in the design and assessment of rock rubble mound, concrete armoured and caisson breakwaters in Australia, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas.

John McCarey

John McCarey

McLaughlin & Harvey

technical director

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John McCarey

John is a Chartered Civil Engineer and has over 25+ years of contracting experience in the site delivery of marine engineering projects including offshore and near shore works involving piling, breakwaters and dredging. He currently operates in the role of Technical Director within the Civil Engineering department with responsibility to review all tenders and projects to develop alternative design and construction methodologies to bring programme and cost efficiencies. His role involves leading value and risk management workshops working with our clients and design teams to develop innovative and cost effective engineering solutions.

Giulia Sforzi

Giulia Sforzi

HR Wallingford

sustainability solutions lead

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Giulia Sforzi

Giulia is the Business Development Lead for Sustainability Solutions at HR Wallingford.
A civil engineer by training, she brings deep expertise in dredging and land reclamation, built through hands-on experience as a client representative both onshore and aboard dredging vessels. She has managed complex marine operations, ensuring alignment with project requirements and resolving technical challenges in real time.

In her current role, Giulia shapes HR Wallingford’s strategic direction on sustainability. She leads efforts to align the company’s climate-change and decarbonisation services with evolving market needs, supporting clients as they transition toward low carbon infrastructure and operations.

Giulia also contributes to industry-wide sustainability initiatives as a member of the CEDA Decarbonisation Commission, helping drive efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of dredging activities. In addition, she shares her technical and sustainability expertise as a tutor on the IADC’s Dredging for Sustainable Infrastructure course, helping professionals apply sustainable principles in practice.

Kristen Branford

Kristen Branford

red7marine

Managing Director

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Kristen Branford

Kristen Branford, Managing Director at Red7Marine, is a Chartered Civil Engineer with 25 years’ experience within the marine industry. Kristen combines deep technical expertise with a collaborative approach to deliver high-value infrastructure across a multitude of complex environments.

Adam Kiely

Adam Kiely

red7marine

project manager

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Adam Kiely

Adam Kiely joined Red7Marine in October 2022 to manage the company’s £3.6M deep water berth extension project at Portland Port. Adam has a BEng in Civil and Coastal Engineering from the University of Plymouth and has worked in the construction industry for 20 years, working as a Structural Engineer, Project Manager and QHSE Manager. He is currently on-site managing Red7Marine’s largest contract to date at our Bridgwater Tidal Barrier site.

Rheza Rahadian

Rheza Rahadian

Haskoning

geotechnical engineer

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Rheza Rahadian

Rheza is a geotechnical engineer at Haskoning UK with over eight years of professional experience in geotechnical design, site investigation, inspection, and construction supervision. Having lived and worked in both the UK and Indonesia, his project experience spans both UK and international schemes and includes the geotechnical and structural design of maritime infrastructure such as jetties, breakwaters, quay walls, and land reclamation works, as well as dredging related developments. 

Richard Kehoe

Richard Kehoe

Robert West Consulting Ltd

associate director

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Richard Kehoe

Richard is an Associate Director at Robert West Consulting Ltd and is the Business Unit Lead for the Marine team. Richard has seventeen years’ experience as a Civil and Structural Engineer, primarily in the UK maritime and rail industries. The RWC Marine teams undertakes the design of maritime structures across the UK. 

Arash Maghsoudloo

Arash Maghsoudloo

Boskalis

Engineering Manager

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Arash Maghsoudloo

Arash is an engineering manager at Boskalis with a background in geotechnical engineering, bringing together field experience and academic insight. Over the past 15 years, he has been involved in a wide range of international projects, including urban and marine construction, dredging, land reclamation, tunnel construction, and airport and port development across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. His work combines hands-on project execution with practical problem-solving.

Matthew Salt

Matthew Salt

KBS Maritime

senior design engineer (waterfront & civils)

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Matthew Salt

Matthew joined KBS Maritime in November 2023 as a Senior Design Engineer, based within Portsmouth Naval Base. Since joining, he has delivered a diverse portfolio of waterfront and civil engineering projects, including road reconstruction works, cathodic protection upgrades on jetty structures, dry dock regeneration, and developing docking solutions for Royal Navy vessels. Before moving into the maritime sector, Matthew spent eight years working within the highways industry in roles at Kier, Balfour Beatty, and National Highways. His work primarily focused on managing Maintenance and Response contracts across the Strategic Road Network in the South East, overseeing complex incident response, cyclic maintenance and contract mobilisations. 

George Saad

George Saad

Moffatt & Nichol

director, ports and maritime infrastructure

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George Saad

Dr. George Saad is Director of Ports and Maritime Infrastructure at Moffatt & Nichol in Europe. He is a civil/structural engineer with extensive expertise in ports and terminals planning, design, operations, and simulations. George guides port authorities, terminal operators, and investors on projects globally, from idea conception through planning, feasibility, and master planning. Alongside this, his professional practice and academic achievements have deepened his expertise in applying data mining, data analytics, and artificial intelligence to deliver efficient, high quality solutions to complex engineering problems. Before joining Moffatt & Nichol, he was a professor of Civil Engineering at the American University of Beirut.

Further Information