Ann Fenech has been elected president of the Comite Maritime International (CMI) by the General Assembly of the CMI held in Antwerp in October 2022 following her nomination by the Maritime Law of Association of Australia and New Zealand as well as by the Malta Maritime Law Association.

Ann is the first woman and first Maltese to hold this position in the 125-year illustrious history of the CMI. Ann takes over the helm from Chris Davis.

The CMI, established in Antwerp in 1897, is a non-governmental not-for-profit international organisation which seeks to contribute to the unification of maritime law.  It is responsible for the drafting of numerous international conventions and treaties, including amongst others the 1910 Collision Convention, the Convention on Salvage 1989, the Limitation of Liability Convention 1976 and of the 1996 Protocol, the Hague Rules and the Hague Visby Rules.

The CMI also enjoys observer status at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). Its membership consists of international maritime law associations from all corners of the globe.

Ann is no stranger to the CMI, having served two consecutive terms as Vice-President between 2018 to 2022. She was also heavily involved in a number of working groups at the CMI including, most notably, a working group on judicial sales of ships, whose work culminated in the text of a new convention on the international effects of the judicial sale of ships. The treaty text was earlier this month adopted by the United Nation’s General Assembly. Ann also served as the CMI co-ordinator at UNCITRAL for this project.

Ann was also listed in the 2022 Lloyd’s List One Hundred People, which ranked the shipping industry’s most influential people.

Ann has been practising maritime law exclusively for the past 36 years. She started her career at Holman Fenwick and Willan in London in 1986 and then moved to Chaffe McCall Philipps Toler and Sarpy in 1991 before returning to Malta in 1992 and setting up the Marine Litigation Department at Fenech & Fenech Advocates. She also served as the President of the Malta Maritime Law Association from 2008 to 2022.