SEDA Expands Maritime and Shipping Expertise with the Addition of Barry Bednar and Wenzel Schwabenland
SEDA Experts LLC, a leading expert witness firm providing world-class financial expert witness services, announced today that Barry Bednar and Dipl.-Ing. Wenzel Schwabenland joined the firm as Managing Directors.
New York, NY, July 22, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — SEDA Experts LLC, a leading expert witness firm providing world-class financial expert witness services, announced today that Barry Bednar and Dipl.-Ing. Wenzel Schwabenland joined the firm as Managing Directors.
Together, Mr. Bednar and Mr. Schwabenland bring highly complementary expertise across the commercial, financial, technical, and forensic dimensions of the global shipping industry. Their combined experience spans tanker shipping, chartering, freight derivatives, freight risk management, naval architecture, marine engineering, casualty investigations, vessel damage, marine insurance claims, and international arbitration.
“Maritime and Shipping Experience is an increasing demand from our clients,” said Peter Selman, Managing Partner of SEDA Experts.
SEDA’s expanded maritime and shipping expertise will support clients on matters involving:
- Maritime and commodity markets
- Tanker shipping and chartering
- Freight derivatives and freight risk management
- Forward Freight Agreements and Baltic Exchange assessments
- Marine engineering and naval architecture
- Vessel damage and casualty investigations
- Marine insurance claims, Hull & Machinery, Loss of Hire, and General Average matters
- Shipbuilding, offshore assets, and technical disputes
Barry Bednar is a maritime and commodity markets expert with over 35 years of experience in tanker shipping, chartering, freight derivatives, and freight risk management. He has held senior trading, chartering, and management roles at leading financial institutions, commodity trading organizations, and maritime firms, including J Aron & Co. / Goldman Sachs, ABN AMRO Bank N.V., Koch Supply & Trading, BGC Partners, Diomedes Maritime Investments, and the Baltic Exchange. His expertise includes physical shipping markets, spot and term chartering, Forward Freight Agreements, Baltic Exchange route assessments, tanker market risk, and the interaction between freight market fundamentals and derivative pricing.
Dipl.-Ing. Wenzel Schwabenland is a naval architect, marine surveyor, and forensic engineer with over two decades of experience across multiple sectors of the maritime industry. His career spans technical leadership roles, casualty investigations, expert witness work, and strategic advisory for shipowners, insurers, P&I clubs, offshore operators, financial institutions, and maritime law firms. He has extensive experience in Hull & Machinery, Loss of Hire, and General Average matters worldwide, including catastrophic propulsion failures, crankshaft damage, machinery breakdowns, vessel sinkings, cargo losses, offshore heavy-lift assets, flooding and stability analyses, and repair methodology assessments.
With Barry’s commercial and market expertise and Wenzel’s technical and forensic engineering background, SEDA is uniquely positioned to assist clients in complex maritime disputes requiring both financial-market insight and technical precision.
About SEDA Experts LLC
SEDA is a leading expert witness firm specializing in financial services. We support international law firms by offering the highest level of expertise across the financial industry and providing access to the most influential financial services industry leaders. We provide superior independent advice, data analytics, valuation, and elite expert reports and testimony services to law firms, regulators, and leading financial institutions.
CONTACT: Name: Peter Selman Email: pselman@sedaexperts.com Job Title: Managing Partner
