Even in an industry of colourful characters, Clay Maitland stands out from the crowd.

So, it made for a packed ballroom at New York’s Union League Club when the Society of Maritime Arbitrators (SMA) hosted a roast of the International Registries Inc (IRI) managing partner, whose company runs the Marshall Islands corporate and ship registry.

A crowd including judges, maritime lawyers, shipping executives and maritime-school officials whooped it up at the expense of the long-time fixture of the New York shipping scene — and characteristically, not without Maitland firing back.