AsiaOperations

Esben Poulsson elected ICS chairman

Arguably the man in shipping with the most amount of business cards to his name will need to get some more printed.

Esben Poulsson was elected today as the new chairman of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS).

Danish national Poulsson was elected at the ICS annual general meeting in Tokyo. He takes over from Masamichi Morooka, who has stood down after four years in office.

As ICS chairman, Poulsson identified two main challenges that he will focus on. “The first,” he said, “is working with IMO member states to make further progress addressing international shipping’s CO2 emissions, including our proposal that IMO should develop an ‘Intended IMO Determined Contribution’ for reducing the sector’s CO2, similar to the commitments already made by governments as part of the COP21 Paris Agreement.

“But even more pressing, from an industry perspective, is making sure we are ready for the almost certain entry in force of the IMO Ballast Water Management Convention, and engaging with governments, especially the United States, to overcome some remaining but really serious implementation problems.”

Poulsson will be supported in his new role by four ICS vice chairmen: John C. Lyras (Greece), Karin Orsel (Netherlands), Mark Martecchini (Liberia) and Gerardo Borromeo (Philippines).

As well as Poulsson’s commitments to the ICS, he is president of president of the Singapore Shipping Association (SSA), and also is on the board of the Singapore Maritime Foundation, Epic Shipping, AVRA International and Straits Tankers. The former Torm man is also chairman of Enesel Pte Ltd, a Singapore management subsidiary of Athens-based boxship operator Enesel.

 

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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