Who’s Who: Maritime Movements for July/August 2024
WORK BOAT WORLD:
Bearing AI, a maritime artificial intelligence solutions provider, has appointed Niels Snog as Chief Commercial Officer. Snog brings extensive experience in international sales leadership and business development for maritime shipping and SaaS products.
Snog was previously CCO at ZeroNorth. Prior to this, he was the VP and CCO of Wrist Ship Supply, where he was responsible for global strategic sales and assisted in building a global e-commerce trading platform.
Bearing AI has also appointed Russell Claessens as its Head of Sales, EMEA. Claessens joins Bearing AI with deep industry knowledge and extensive experience selling advanced data and analytics solutions to maritime shipping customers from his previous roles at Spire and ZeroNorth.
Snog and Claessens will begin in their new roles on September 2, 2024.
Naval architecture and marine engineering firm the Elliott Bay Design Group has designated Joe Hudspeth as its newest Director of Sales. He has more than 20 years' experience in the commercial maritime industry, which included a stint at BAE Systems where he was Director of Business development for Global Marine.
Hudspeth is also currently affiliated with trade group the Passenger Vessel Association, where he is regional chairman.
Estonian shipping company Tallink Grupp has appointed Piret Mürk-Dubout as the new Managing Director of the group’s Swedish subsidiary Tallink Silja. Mürk-Dubout will take on this additional role in the company, while also maintaining her role on the group’s management board.
Mürk-Dubout joined Tallink Grupp as Management Board Member in April 2019 and leads the company’s sales, marketing, customer services, on board services and concepts development, travel retail and sustainable business areas on the board level. Prior to joining Tallink Grupp, she held the position of CEO of Tallinn Airport, and a number of senior management roles before that in Estonia and Sweden, most notably and recently in the ranks of telecoms company the Telia Group.
In addition to Mürk-Dubout’s appointment and following a reorganisation of the sales and marketing operations and functions in Tallink Silja, the company has appointed Enrique Hellsten as the Swedish subsidiary’s new Sales Director and Jan Holmberg as the new Marketing Director of Tallink Silja. Hellsten assumes the new role from within the business where he most recently held the position of Customer Service and Operations Manager.
Holmberg joins the company from Telia, where his latest role included responsibilities for the company’s digital marketing strategy, media management, and development agenda. Before that, he headed the consumer marketing department in Telia Sweden, consolidating marketing efforts across various business units. Prior to joining Telia.
Hellsten’s and Holmberg’s appointments are effective from August 13, 2024.
Eric Grégoire has assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer of ferry company Scandlines. The Scandlines Executive Management Team now consists of CEO Eric Grégoire, COO Michael Guldmann Jensen, and CFO Mikael Koch.
Grégoire has 32 years' experience which included work as CEO of Singapore-based bulk shipping company Goodpack. He had also served in various roles at GE and DuPont.
Boatbuilder Brunswick Corporation has appointed Aine Denari as its new Executive Vice President. Denari has also been appointed President of Brunswick division the Navico Group as well as Brunswick Chief Technology Officer.
Denari was previously President of the Brunswick Boat Group, a role she assumed in October 2020. In her new and expanded role, she will lead the next phase of evolution of the Navico Group and be responsible for Brunswick’s technology strategy and advanced development activities, including maintaining the leadership of autonomy programs and assuming responsibility for the Boating Intelligence DesignLab at the University of Illinois.
Brenna Preisser has meanwhile been named Executive Vice President and President of the Brunswick Boat Group, succeeding Denari. Since January 2019, she has been Executive Vice President and President, Business Acceleration, the division housing Freedom Boat Club, Boateka, and Brunswick’s financial services and related businesses.
Preisser successfully led the acquisition and expansion of Freedom Boat Club from 170 locations to its current 410 locations around the world, and the creation of Boateka, Brunswick’s pre-owned boat sales platform. Preisser has held a number of executive positions at Brunswick over the past 20 years including Chief Human Resources Officer and Chief Strategy Officer. She will now be responsible for Brunswick’s portfolio of 18 boat brands, including Boston Whaler, Sea Ray, Bayliner, Lund, Harris, Quicksilver, and Princecraft.
Will Sangster is promoted to Senior Vice President and President, Business Acceleration, succeeding Preisser, and will be responsible for the continued growth of the portfolio of businesses within the division.
Sangster was most recently President of Mercury Marine in EMEA, a position he assumed in October 2021. Prior to that, he spent 14 years with Brunswick in a number of international leadership positions including the head of Mercury Marine’s ANZP region.
Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard (ASRY) has announced that Dr. Ahmed AlAbri has been appointed the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the shipyard, effective August 2024. AlAbri has more than 25 years of experience in the field, having served a variety of executive roles in the regional maritime industry with a number of firms.
AlAbri holds a PhD in Operational and Environmental Management of Shipyards & Ports from the University of Portsmouth – UK in addition to a master’s degree in Maritime Engineering Sciences from the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom, and a bachelor’s degree in Naval Architecture from the same university.
General Dynamics has confirmed that Kevin Graney, who currently serves as president of General Dynamics Electric Boat, has informed the company that he will retire at the end of the year. He will be succeeded by Mark Rayha, who currently serves as senior vice president and chief operating officer of Electric Boat, effective December 1.
Rayha joined General Dynamics in 1989 at Land Systems. He became CFO of General Dynamics Mission Systems in 2015. He joined Electric Boat in 2020 and served as CFO from 2021 to 2023, when he became chief operating officer.
The Hornblower Group has appointed Mike Flaskey as its new Chief Executive Officer. Flaskey brings to the Hornblower portfolio a wealth of relevant experiences, having previously held senior leadership positions at Wyndham Vacation and Starwood Hotels and Resorts and Diamond Resorts. At Diamond, he rose from Chief Sales and Marketing Officer to COO, and ultimately CEO.
Since 2021, he has served as a Senior Advisor to the McKinsey Travel, Leisure and Infrastructure practice and to the CEO of Capital Vacations. He also serves as an Independent Director for Invited Clubs.
The board of directors of Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri has appointed Biagio Mazzotta as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company. The appointment follows the premature death of Chairman Claudio Graziano earlier this year.
Mazzotta graduated in Economics from the La Sapienza University of Rome. In 2001, he earned a specialisation master's degree in European Studies at the A. De Gasperi Institute of European Studies. In 2023, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in Political Economy by the University of Rome.
He has over thirty years of experience in public administration, particularly within the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance, where he worked for around 35 years at the State General Accounting Department. He is registered as a chartered accountant and is qualified to teach legal-economic disciplines.
Carnival Corporation has designated Stuart Allison as Chief Commercial Officer of P&O Cruises to support the brand’s commercial growth ambitions.
Allison is an established member of the Carnival Corporation family and joins from Princess Cruises in Australia where he most recently served as Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific, UK and Europe, leading all the non-domestic commercial teams for Princess across the globe. He will begin serving in his new role in October 2024.
Fugro’s Board of Management has appointed Luh Shyang Loo as Group Director for the Asia Pacific region and member of the Executive Leadership Team. Loo will take over responsibility for the region on October 1, 2024.
Loo has worked with Fugro for over 25 years, taking on various key roles within the organisation. He began as an offshore surveyor and later served as a project manager in the Netherlands, swiftly advancing to Regional Manager, then Managing Director, and ultimately being promoted to Director for Northeast Asia.
Loo holds a Bachelor’s degree in Land Surveying from the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and Master of Business Administration degree from the Open University of Malaysia.
Captain Chris O’Flaherty AFNI has joined the Nautical Institute as Senior Technical Advisor to work with the association and its volunteers at the IMO and other international fora.
O'Flaherty served in the UK Royal Navy in roles ranging from Navigating Officer to Command and in ships of varying size from minesweeper to aircraft carrier. He is a highly experienced mariner and diplomat who has worked in specialist areas including maritime law, human resources, training, regulatory and foreign policy, and maritime management operations.
SHIP WORLD:
Teekay Corporation and Teekay Tankers have announced the following senior management changes following a strategic review to simplify the management structure of the Teekay Group:
Teekay Tankers’ President and Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Mackay, and Chief Financial Officer, Stewart Andrade, will transition out of the organization by August 31, 2024.
Kenneth Hvid, Teekay’s President and Chief Executive Officer and Teekay Tankers’ Chairman, will take on the added role of Teekay Tankers’ President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Brody Speers, Teekay’s Vice President, Finance and Treasurer, will take on the role of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of both Teekay Corporation and Teekay Tankers.
In addition, Mikkel Seidelin, Teekay Tankers’ Head of Chartering and Commercial Operations, has been appointed as Chief Commercial Officer for Teekay Tankers.
Kenneth Hvid has served as Teekay’s President and Chief Executive Officer since 2017 and joined the board of directors of Teekay Corporation in 2019. He has served as a director of Teekay Tankers since 2017, and was appointed as its Chair in 2019 and as its President and Chief Executive Officer in August 2024. He also served as a director of Teekay GP, the general partner of Teekay LNG Partners from September 2018 to January 2022 and from 2011 to 2015, and served as its Chair from May 2019 until January 2022.
Hvid joined Teekay Corporation in 2000 and was promoted to Senior Vice President, Teekay Gas Services, in 2004 and to President of the Teekay Navion Shuttle Tankers and Offshore division in 2006. He served as Teekay Corporation’s Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President from 2011 to 2015. He also served as a director of Altera Infrastructure from 2011 to June 2020, and as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Teekay Offshore Group from 2015 to 2016.
Brody Speers was appointed as Chief Financial Officer of Teekay Corporation and Teekay Tankers in August 2024. Prior to this appointment, Brody served in several senior financial positions, including as Vice President, Finance of Teekay Corporation since 2018, Treasurer of Teekay Corporation since 2022 and as Chief Financial Officer of the Teekay Gas Group, a company that provided services to Teekay LNG Partners and its affiliates, in 2017 and 2018.
Prior to joining Teekay in 2008, Speers worked as a Chartered Professional Accountant for an accounting firm in Vancouver, Canada. He is also a Chartered Business Valuator.
Mikkel Seidelin was appointed as Chief Commercial Officer of Teekay Tankers in August 2024, having previously served as its Head of Chartering and Commercial Operations since 2023.
He joined Teekay in 2003 and has worked in various locations across the globe in commercial functions, including as Pool Manager for Taurus Tankers (LR2) and as Chartering Director for Teekay Tankers’ Suezmax business. He holds an Executive MBA from INSEAD.
The Port of Portland in Oregon has selected Kimberly Branam as its new Chief Trade and Economic Development Officer. Her first day in the role will be September 30, 2024.
Branam is currently the Executive Director for Prosper Portland, where she has overseen the overall leadership and management of the city’s economic and urban development agency since 2016. Previously, she served as Prosper Portland’s Deputy Director for five years.
Branam came to Prosper Portland after spending four years leading economic development for the City of Portland. During this time, she oversaw the development, adoption, and implementation of the city’s first economic development strategy in 15 years.
Kevin King has been confirmed as Chief Executive Officer of the specialist transport and logistics insurer TT Club, completing a planned move announced last year. He has officially taken up this position from August 1, 2024.
Originally based in the United States, King has long held positions within Thomas Miller managed businesses, and transferred to London in 2015 to lead the Europe, Middle East and Africa region at TT. More recently he served as the insurer’s Chief Operating Officer.
Marie-Caroline Laurent, outgoing Director-General of Cruise Lines International Association in Europe (CLIA Europe), will become the MSC Group’s Vice President for Maritime Policy and Government Affairs. Laurent will assume her new role in October 2024.
Laurent is a transport policy expert who has worked in leadership roles at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) for nearly a decade, including serving as Assistant Director for EU Affairs. Previously, she worked in policy development for the Association of European Airlines and has also served as a parliamentary adviser at the European Parliament and as senior policy officer at the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU.
Captain Giorgio De Sciora has been selected as the new Vice President of Regulations and Standards, Maritime Operations at the Liberian Registry. In this role, he will direct and oversee the application of new and amended international maritime regulations and all related programs implemented by the administration.
Before joining the Liberian Registry, De Sciora served in various organisations including Carnival Cruise Line, and classification society RINA. During these years, he served as the Global Director of the Passenger Ships Excellence Center and Regulatory Affairs, overseeing all activities related to the passenger ships sector. Additionally, he held roles as a Company Representative at industry associations such as the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), was part of the Steering Committee for the Cruise Ship Safety Forum, and Technical Committees for cruise safety on Passenger Ships lead by the USCG Cruise Ship National Center of Expertise.
The Liberian Registry has also announced that Commander Norman Witt (US Coast Guard, retired) has joined its team as Vice President of Port State Control Affairs. With over 23 years of service, including leading major operations like the Golden Ray response, he brings invaluable expertise in regulatory compliance and international relations.
Witt will be responsible for coordinating with various port state control entities to better support the registry’s clients. Through this position, he can assist ship owners and operators through inspections or other obstacles they may face.
Witt's other coast guard command assignments also includes the Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit in Savannah, Georgia, where he held the position of Captain of the Port.
Crowley Maritime Corporation has named Walter Tague as Vice President of Sales and Supply for its Crowley Fuels businesses unit, which services energy logistics needs throughout Alaska. With more than 30 years of maritime industry experience specialising in supply chain management and support in the oil and gas sectors, Tague will oversee Crowley’s marketing, sales, customer relations and procurement of refined product supply for the Alaskan and Canadian Arctic markets.
Since joining Crowley in 1999, Tague has served in multiple roles, most recently as the director of commercial operations, overseeing the annual supply of 70 million gallons of fuel and ensuring safe distribution across more than 160 communities across Alaska. He is also responsible for establishing an approved process for the utilization of tank ships in Western Alaska, which is accepted by key state, federal, and international bodies.
Tague earned a Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation from the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point and is an active board member of the Alaska Chadux Network (ACN), serving as the chairman of the Best Practices Committee for the Alternate Planning Criteria for Tankers.
The Port of Corpus Christi has named Kyle Hogan the incoming Chief Operating Officer, to succeed Clark Robertson, who will retire on September 3, 2024. In his new role at the Port of Corpus Christi, Hogan will oversee engineering services, port operations, police and security, emergency management, and channel and DMPA development.
A former US Army officer, Hogan served as commander of the Corpus Christi Army Depot. His career spans three decades of Distinguished Military Service, including 15 years with the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) Airborne.
Ireland-based tanker operator Ardmore Shipping has announced that Founder and CEO Anthony Gurnee has informed the board of directors of his intention to retire from his executive and board positions later this year. Following a comprehensive selection process, the board of directors has appointed current executive and Chief Commercial Officer Gernot Ruppelt as the Company’s new CEO, and expanded current CFO Bart Kelleher’s position to take on the additional role of President.
The leadership transition will take effect from September 16, 2024 at the company’s upcoming quarterly board meeting.
In connection with their promotions, both Ruppelt and Kelleher will be joining the board of directors of the company. Ruppelt will maintain responsibility for Ardmore’s commercial platform until such time as a successor is selected. Kelleher will maintain his role as the company’s CFO until such time as the board of directors appoints a successor, after which finance and accounting will remain among his responsibilities.
Currently, Ruppelt serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Ardmore, where he has built up, led and developed Ardmore’s global commercial platform. He joined Ardmore as Chartering Director in 2013 and was promoted to senior management one year later. He has 23 years of experience across multiple sectors in the maritime industry and acquired extensive international exposure having worked in five countries across three continents throughout his career.
Kelleher serves as Chief Financial Officer at Ardmore, having joined in 2022. He has over 25 years of progressive experience in the maritime, finance, and industrials sectors. Prior to joining Ardmore, he served as CEO at stainless-steel chemical tanker company Chembulk Tankers, as well as COO at Suezmax crude carrier company Principal Maritime.
The ASP Ships Group (ASP) has appointed Christian Skovbo Riis as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Asia, effective from July 2, 2024.
Riis brings strong commercial and industry knowledge from his previous leadership roles with various shipowners in Europe and Asia, as well as his latest position as Director at Rio Tinto where he led Rio Tinto’s Marine Safety and Welfare Strategy and Execution.
The board of Associated British Ports (ABP) has confirmed the appointment of Jonathan "Jon" Lewis as its Chair in succession to Dr Phil Nolan, who has decided to stand down from the role.
Lewis brings decades of business leadership experience, predominantly in major infrastructure sectors such as energy, engineering, and construction. He has held CEO roles at AmecFosterWheeler and, most recently, Capita, where he led both organisations through periods of growth and transformation. He is currently a Non-Executive Director of Equinor, where he is also Chair of the Safety, Sustainability and Ethics Committee.
ABP has also appointed a new Chief of Staff with Paul Bristowe, formerly Head of Marine for ABP’s Humber region, taking up the role. He brings extensive senior leadership experience from almost a decade with BP and 25 years of service in the Royal Navy in addition to his ABP career.
The Chief of Staff role has been created to bring together critical enabling functions into one portfolio, including marine operations, safety, environment and security. The Chief of Staff will also be the senior executive with responsibility for ABP’s other marine focused capabilities, UK Dredging and marine consultancy ABPmer.
Bristowe joined ABP in 2022 from BP, where he held a number of senior commercial roles in shipping, supply and trading operations. Before joining the business world, he had a 25-year career in the Royal Navy operating globally as a helicopter pilot, warfare officer, and latterly in command of a Type 23 frigate. He also has an MBA from Cranfield University.
Lastly, ABP has appointed Andrew Dawes to the position of Regional Director, Humber to succeed Simon Bird when the latter leaves ABP at the end of October. Dawes will be part of the executive team and will report directly to ABP CEO Henrik L. Pedersen.
Dawes began work at the Southampton Container Terminal and has progressed his career to become a seasoned maritime executive, amassing almost 30 years of experience from the global ports and terminals industry with companies such as DP World, APM Terminals, and ICTSI. He also brings with him a wealth of experience in safety, operations and commercial activities. His experience also includes Managing Director roles with P&L accountability for terminals plus wider regional portfolio responsibility.
Dawes will join ABP on October 1, 2024, allowing a thorough period of handover with the outgoing Regional Director, Simon Bird, who will be stepping down from the role at the end of the month.
