Our Team

Matthew Snedker

Matthew (Matt) Snedker was appointed to the Heidmar Executive Committee in August 2012 and currently holds the position of Managing Director of Heidmar UK Limited as well as Team Leader Blue Fin with responsibilities for leading and directing both the chartering strategies for Blue Fin and day to day operations of the Heidmar London office.

Before joining the company in May of 2001, Matt held a number of positions within the industry.  Matt started his career at as Naval Architect in 1988 with Burness, Corleff and Partners, Basingstoke & Sydney Australia.  He went on to hold a Tanker Broker and Operator position at Saxon Shipbrokers, London; Tanker Broker at Anglo Maritime Shipbrokers Ltd, London and Chartering Assistant at Athenian Tankers UK Ltd. London before taking on the role of broker in Heidmar’s  London office.

Matt received his BSc (Honours) in Ship Science from Southampton University Faculty of Engineering. 

Ben Ognibene

Benjamin (Ben) Ognibene is Vice President, Commercial; he was appointed to this position in May 2012.  Ben is responsible for the management, development and expansion of Heidmar's Pools, Projects and Commercial teams.   

In addition to this role Ben currently serves  on the Heidmar Executive Committee.  

Since Ben joined the company in April 2004, the Pool business has grown from 70 ships to over 120.  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 the 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 his  Bachelor’s Degree in History from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1992.

Per Heilmann

Per F. Heilmann, Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer at Heidmar Inc., is responsible for Derivative Trading and Risk Management for the Company. He has been with Heidmar for 10 years. He has served as 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.

Henrik Hartzell

Henrik Hartzell was appointed to the Executive Committee at Heidmar in May 2012. This role is in addition to his being Managing Director for Far East with the responsibility of management of the Singapore office, VLCC charteringas well as development and expansion of the Pool business.

Throughout his career Henrik has worked in the roles of a Charterer, Owner and Broker as well as in segments ranging from small tankers to VLCC and in all cargo types from no heat crude to petrochemical gases. After starting out in 1984 in Sweden in dry cargo chartering with Partship AB, he gained experience in both chartering and tanker owning working for the Axel Johnson Group of Sweden in the mid 80's, after which Henrik pursued his career as a tanker broker first with Stemoco Shipping A/S in Oslo, followed by six years with MTMM (Hong Kong) Ltd and later with Stockholm Chartering AB. In 2001 Henrik was appointed General Manager at Eastern Product Carriers Pte Ltd, Singapore, running a fleet for product tankers and later LPG carriers until 2009, when he joined Heidmar (Far East) Pte Ltd as Managing Director.

Henrik graduated from Frans Schartaus Handelsinstitut in 1983 and received a Diploma in Shipping the following year at the London School of Foreign Trade.

Kathleen Haines

Kathleen C. Haines (Kathy) is Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer 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.

Kathy has over 20 years of Financial and Accounting experience within the maritime industry.   Prior to joining Heidmar in 2012, she was a principal of Holbridge Capital Advisors, a financial consulting firm specializing in the maritime industry. 

From 1989 - 2008, Kathy worked at OMI Corporation, a $2.2 billion (assets) U.S.-based international shipping company, becoming Chief Financial Officer in 2007.     Kathy was instrumental in defining the Company's growth strategy and led numerous capital market transactions, including equity issuances and raising high-yield debt, secured and unsecured bank financings.  She managed treasury, financial reporting, investor relations, risk management and human resources and was responsible for OMI's overseas joint venture and commercial pool partner relationships. As Chief Financial Officer, she handled the transition company created following the sale of OMI Corporation (May 2007 to May 2008).

She also sat on the Board of OSG America L.P. and served as the Chairman of its Audit Committee.   

Kathy is a CPA and graduated with a Bachelor of Business in Accounting from Texas Tech University and is a controllership graduate from the University of Wisconsin, School of Bank Administration.  She is a active member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and is the Treasurer of Women's International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA).  She is also the Treasurer of the New York Maritime Association and currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Seamen's Church Institute as Treasurer and as a member of its Finance and Endowment Committee as well as its Strategic Planning Committee.  

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).

Marc La Monte

Marc La Monte is President and Chief Executive Officer of Heidmar Inc. and is responsible for the overall supervision and direction of the company. He was appointed to this position in April 2012.

From October 2010, Marc La Monte had been the Managing Director of Heidmar’s VLCC tanker pool, Seawolf Tankers Inc.  In that role, he was responsible for the creation and growth of the VLCC tanker fleet, which operates under the Heidmar Inc. flag.

Marc has 27 years of experience in the shipping industry.   Prior to joining Heidmar in 2010, he led the Gas Strategic Business Unit at Overseas Shipholding Group. During Marc’s tenure at OSG, he also served as Vice President and Deputy Head of the Crude Strategic Business Unit where he played a critical role in the commercial management of the international crude oil tanker fleet. Marc also held the dual role of head of the worldwide Sale and Purchase group across all OSG’s business units. He joined OSG in 1994 as a chartering broker.

Marc began his professional career at Mobil Oil Corporation followed by Mitsui and Co., (USA) and Continental Grain (Contichem LPG) and held various positions including both physical and paper trading of crude oil and petroleum products. He is an associate member of the Association of Ship Brokers and Agents (USA), Inc. and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from St. John’s University, New York.