Rolf Habben-Jansen will be the incoming head of Hapag-Lloyd, coming on board in July 2014 to succeed chief executive officer Michael Behrendt, who leaves on June 2014 after more than 12 years at the helm of the liner shipping company.
Habben-Jansen, who is CEO of Damco, will stay with the logistics company until March 2014 “to ensure continuity and to allow time for a thorough handover to his successor, who will be announced in due course,” an official statement from Damco, which is A.P. Moller-Maersk’s logistics arm, said.
Prior to his Damco post, Habben-Jansen, 47, held positions at the Royal Nedlloyd Group and at DHL. He became CEO of Damco in The Hague, the Netherlands, in 2009.
Behrendt, 62, will leave Hapag-Lloyd as planned after again extending his contract by a year at the request of shareholders. He was appointed to the executive board of the company in 1999.
During his time as CEO, “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,” said a written company release.
Ulrich Kranich, 63, a member of the executive board since July 2006 and COO since 2008, will also leave Hapag-Lloyd in June 2014 after 38 years. He will be succeeded by Anthony Firmin, 59, who has worked at Hapag-Lloyd for 18 years, with effect from July 2014. Firmin is a member of the executive committee and is currently in charge of yield management and network.
“The Supervisory Board is certain that the appointment of Rolf Habben-Jansen and Anthony J. Firmin is a superb choice for the company. Both of them have many years of experience in the logistics and shipping sectors. It puts Hapag-Lloyd in an excellent position for the future,” said Jürgen Weber, chairman of the supervisory board.
Photo from Damco
