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Maersk rings the changes at Hamburg Süd

Ahead of Maersk Line’s anticipated closing of its $4bn deal to take over Hamburg Süd, due by the fourth quarter of this year, a slew of management changes have been announced at the German boxline.

Ottmar Gast will retire as chairman of the executive board to become the chairman of the supervisory board of Hamburg Süd.

Søren Toft, chief operating officer of Maersk Line, will become a member of the supervisory board of the German line.

Arnt Vespermann will become the new chairman of the executive board of Hamburg Süd and will in addition to his then existing responsibilities be in charge of compliance, corporate communication and of Columbus Ship Management. He has been on the board at the German liner since 2009.

Frank Smet will continue as member of the executive board of Hamburg Süd while Jakob Wegge-Larsen, currently CFO of Maersk Line Operations, will join him on the executive board to assume the responsibility of finance and accounting, controlling and information technology and services.

“We … look forward to welcoming all our future colleagues into the Maersk family and together build an even stronger company” said Søren Skou, CEO of Maersk Line.

Maersk’s acquisition of the 10th largest liner in the world remains subject to regulatory approvals.

Once sealed, Maersk Line said it intends to maintain the business model of Hamburg Süd as well as the commercial structure in the regions.

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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