President
Exmar Offshore Company
Harris Knecht has 34 years of experience in the offshore industry primarily in the areas of floating drilling and production. He is currently the President of Exmar Offshore Company in Houston, an engineering firm specializing in design and consulting for offshore floating units and systems for clients such as drilling and construction contractors.  Exmar Offshore also performs engineering and project management services for its parent company Exmar Marine NV in Antwerp Belgium in the areas of floating production, accommodation units and the application of LNG systems to the offshore arena. 

Mr. Knecht previously held the position of Vice President of Engineering for Zapata/Arethusa Offshore Drilling and Diamond Offshore where he was involved in the design and construction of new drilling units, major conversions, repairs and day today maintenance of a fleet of offshore drilling units. 

Prior to joining Zapata, Mr. Knecht was in the Marine Engineering Department of Exxon Production Research involved in the areas of stability, station keeping, floating production and vessel evaluation/safety. 

He is a member of the ABS Special Committee on Mobile Drilling Rigs and the DNV Rig Owners Committee.  He was previously on the United States and IADC delegations to the IMO during the revision of the MODU Code. 

He received his BS in Engineering from Columbia University and both a Masters in Naval Architecture and an Engineers Degree in Ocean engineering from MIT.