Our Team

John Greenwood

John Greenwood joined Heidmar in September 2005 as general counsel for the company and its affiliates. Since joining, he has been involved in a wide range of legal matters, including all of Heidmar's major transactions over the past five years.

Prior to the move, Mr. Greenwood was a partner at McLaughlin & Stern, LLP where he specialized in corporate and finance law, with special attention to companies in the shipping industry.Mr. Greenwood has worked on a wide range of transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, public offerings, private placements of debt and equity, commodity, interest rate and foreign exchange swaps and secured and unsecured bank financings.

In the maritime field, he has worked on a wide variety of ship financings, negotiation and arbitration of ship construction contracts and the purchase, sale and chartering of vessels. Mr. Greenwood also advises on tax issues, especially federal taxation of shipping companies and foreign entities. He has served as a member of the Admiralty Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and has lectured on tax, corporate and finance issues within the maritime industry.

John E. Greenwood is a graduate of Harvard College (B.A. 1975) and Cornell Law School (J.D. 1978). He has a master's degree in taxation from New York University (LL.M. 1992).

John Edmondson

John Edmondson was appointed to the Heidmar Executive Committee in November 2009 and currently holds the position of Managing Director of Heidmar UK Limited as well as Director of WOMAR (UK) Ltd. and WOMAR Holdings LLC, a 50/50 joint venture with Heidmar Inc., with responsibilities for leading and directing the chartering strategies and day to day operations of the Heidmar London office.

Before joining the company in April 2000, John had held a number of positions during his 30 year career within the maritime industry. From 1980 to 1982 he was a Broker at Energy Shipping Limited. From 1982 to 1983 he held the position of Chartering Manager at the then Petroship Group. From 1983 to 1984 worked as an Editor at Platts European Marketscan.

From 1984 to 1989 was a Director at Energy Shipping Limited and from 1989 to 1993 Managing Director at Tanker Brokers International Limited (a subsidiary of OSCO Tankers). From 1993 to 1995 he held the position of Director at Saxon Shipbrokers Limited. From 1995 to 1997 he was a Senior Broker at Anglo-Maritime (Shipbrokers) Limited and from May 1997 to 2000 he held the position of Senior Broker and subsequently Divisional Director at H. Clarkson and Company Limited.

John received his Bachelor's Degree in History from Bedford College at the University of London in 1979.

Ben Ognibene

Benjamin (Ben) Ognibene was appointed to the Executive Committee at Heidmar in June of 2010.  This role is in addition to his being Managing Director of Pools/Projects with the responsibility for the management, development and expansion of the Pool business.

Since his joining the company in April 2004, the Pool business has grown from 70 ships to over 120 pool ships.  Prior to joining Heidmar, Ben worked primarily as a tanker broker with a focus on both spot and project business. He started his career in 1995 as a broker trainee at Seabrokers, Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut. At Seabrokers, he cultivated many new customers throughout South America concluding several period deals with customers in Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile.

In 1997, he was ranked top international tanker broker by Venezuelan State Oil Company PDV.  In 2003, Ben joined Poten & Partners with the responsibility of developing its period desk.; He quickly concluded four period deals, including two important period deals with his future employer, Heidmar Inc.

Ben received a Bachelor’s Degree in History from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1992.

Per Heilmann

Per F. Heilmann, Vice President at Heidmar Inc.,is responsible for Derivative Trading and Risk Management for the Company. He has been with Heidmar for nine years. He is the former Chairman of the Baltic Exchange Freight Market Information Users Group (Tankers). Per became a member of the Heidmar Executive Committee in 2005.

Per received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Cornell University in 1997 and a BA/MA Degree in Economics and Management Studies from Cambridge University in 1999.

Prior to working with Heidmar, Per held the position of Senior Corporate Finance Analyst at Fox-Pitt, Kelton, Inc. an investment banking subsidiary of Swiss Re. In this role, he worked on several mid and large cap M&A and IPO transactions.

Jerry Townsend

Jerry F. Townsend currently holds the position of VP of Projects and Pools. He formerly served as Managing Director of all Heidmar Pools having been the initial Managing Director of Heidmar’s first pool, Star Tankers, Inc. which was formed in January of 1998. In addition Jerry currently serves on the Heidmar Executive Committee. Since his joining the company in July 1997, the Pool business has grown to over 120 pool ships.

Jerry has held a number of positions during his career within the maritime industry, as well as, 13 years with the US Central Intelligence Agency. From1981 to 1987 he held the position of Senior VP at Evergreen SA in Geneva, Switzerland.  From 1988 to 1990 he held the position of Director at Univan Ship Management in Geneva, Switzerland.  From 1990 to 1993 he held the position of Director of Projects for Colonial Marine Industries in Atlanta, Georgia until 1993 when he assumed the position of Director of Projects for Seabrokers Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut.

Jerry received a Bachelor's Degree in Russian Studies from Arizona State University.

Charles Tammara

Charles N. Tammara (Charlie) is Chief Financial Officer of Heidmar Inc. and is responsible for the financial management and reporting for Heidmar Inc. and subsidiaries and for Heidmar International Pools Inc. and subsidiaries.

Charlie has 37 years of experience in the shipping industry. Prior to joining Heidmar in 1997, he was Chief Financial Officer of B&H Ocean Carriers Ltd. (a publicly traded company on the American Stock Exchange), Chief Financial Officer of Marine Transport Lines, Inc. (a publicly traded company that was taken private in a leveraged buyout) and Senior Vice President and Treasurer of OMI Corp. (a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange).

After receiving a Bachelor of Business Administration with a major in accounting from Iona College in 1968, Charlie, a CPA, started his business career with the international accounting firm of Deloitte, Haskins & Sells (now Deloitte & Touche). He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, a member of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants and a board member and Treasurer of the Connecticut Maritime Association.