At its meeting today, the Supervisory Board of Hapag-Lloyd AG has set the course at an early stage for maintaining continuity in the Executive Board of Germany’s largest liner shipping company.
Rolf Habben-Jansen will succeed Chief Executive Officer Michael Behrendt, who is set to leave in the middle of next year. Habben-Jansen has been appointed to the Executive Board of the company with effect from April 1, 2014 and will assume the position of Chairman of the Executive Board on July 1, 2014. Habben-Jansen is a successful and experienced manager in the logistics sector. Having held positions at the Royal Nedlloyd Group and at DHL, he became CEO of the freight forwarding group Damco NV in The Hague in 2009.
Ulrich Kranich will also leave the Company as planned on June 30, 2014 after 38 years. Kranich has been a member of the Executive Board since July 2006, where he has also held the position of COO since 2008 with responsibility for the operational management of the global shipping business. Anthony J. Firmin, who has worked at Hapag-Lloyd for 18 years, has been appointed as Ulrich Kranich’s successor with effect from July 1, 2014. Firmin is a member of the Executive Committee – the extended circle of management below the Executive Board – and is currently in charge of Yield Management & Network.
Michael Behrendt will depart the company as planned on June 30, 2014, having already extended his contract again by a year at the request of shareholders. He was appointed to the Executive Board of Hapag-Lloyd in 1999 and has been Chairman of the Executive Board since the start of 2002. During his time as Chief Executive Officer, Hapag-Lloyd became one of the five biggest liner shipping companies in the world in part as a result of the successful takeover of the liner shipping company CP Ships.
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