Wista Bermuda marked its tenth anniversary with a gala that brought together professionals from across the island’s maritime industry and turned the discussion to the commercial risks facing global shipping.

The dinner at the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club drew professionals from shipping, law, insurance, regulation, logistics, ship finance and international business.

Founded in 2016, the Bermuda chapter of the Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association is part of a global network of more than 6,500 maritime professionals across more than 60 national associations.

Cheryl Hayward-Chew, the chapter’s president, and former presidents Angelique Burgess and Heather Cooper, reflected on how the association had grown over its first decade.

Ms Hayward-Chew said membership of Wista International had given Bermuda members access to professional development programmes, industry conferences and discussions involving bodies such as the International Maritime Organisation.

“It has been a privilege to watch the journeys of our members unfold as they have advanced their careers, joined boards, and expanded their influence across the sector,” she said. “Those individual journeys, and the contributions members continue to make, tell the story of Wista Bermuda far better than any anniversary milestone.”

Keynote speaker Holli Packer, a maritime lawyer with Blank Rome LLP and a former US Coast Guard officer, spoke about how overlapping pressures were adding to commercial risk for shipping companies and complicating the work of regulators and service providers. She urged organisations to adapt their practices as conditions change and to work more closely across the industry.

Ms Packer, co-president of Wista’s Delaware River and Bay chapter, stepped in at short notice after maritime lawyer Jeanne Grasso was unable to travel to Bermuda. Ms Grasso arranged for Ms Packer to take her place, said Tammy Richardson-Augustus, a founding member and legal counsel of Wista Bermuda, who introduced the keynote speaker.

Ms Richardson-Augustus said the swift handover illustrated what local members could draw on through the wider association, describing it as “a global network anchored in deep relationships and mutual support”.