Dry CargoEurope

Arthur English replaces Rune Birkeland at G2 Ocean

Rune Birkeland is stepping down as CEO of G2 Ocean to return to the Grieg Group. Birkeland had been leading G2, the Grieg/Gearbulk open hatch dry bulk joint venture, since its formation in 2017. 

Birkeland will be replaced by chief commercial officer, Arthur English, at the start of next month. English has worked for the past 25 years for Gearbulk and G2 Ocean.

Speaking with Splash, Birkeland said the Scandinavian joint venture had proved a success to date. 

“Grieg Star and Gearbulk have expressed to us that they are pleased to see that the consolidation is giving expected synergies, such as technology and talent development, increased revenues and cost reductions,” Birkeland said.  

On prospects for 2020, English told Splash yesterday: “We foresee a bumpy dry bulk market through 2020, though do expect a gradual improvement through the latter part of the year. For our core open hatch markets, we expect to see ongoing challenges with high stock levels in some key commodities for a while longer and growth in some emerging market and project related operations.”

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
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