The European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO’s) General Assembly unanimously elected Ansis Zeltiņš as its new Chair.
Zeltiņš has been CEO of the Freeport of Riga Authority, Latvia, since 2017 and has been involved in the maritime industry for 20 years. He has represented his country at various internationals such as the IMO and has been a member of the board of EMSA. He has the qualification of a chief mate on ships of 3,000 GT and above.
He has been Vice Chair of ESPO since 2022 and succeeds Zeno D’Agostino who chaired the organisation for the past two years.
The General Assembly also elected two new Vice Chairs: Gerardo Landaluce Calleja, President of the Port Authority of Algeciras Bay since 2019 and Cédric Virciglio, Strategic Planning Director at Haropa Port since 2021.
Zeltiņš said: "I am honoured to lead the most professional and strongest industry team of the European Sea Ports Organisation. Our strength is proven, as well as our wide competence, unity and ever-present partnership spirit. Together with the ESPO team, we will put our efforts to continue cementing these values to assist Europe’s ports - whether small or big, building a sustainable and a still very competitive, European port environment. I really welcome the election of two port industry professionals Cédric Virciglio and Gerardo Landaluce Calleja as my Vice Chairs. We express our gratitude towards all the European port colleagues and the fantastic Secretariat team for all their support! Thanks as well to my outgoing colleagues - brothers in arms Daan and Zeno!”