News
Michael F Hassing joins Samskip
Former senior Maersk executive Michael F Hassing is to join Samskip on 1st July as a CEO and major shareholder. On the same date, Samskip's Rotterdam-based CEO Àsbjörn Gíslason will also become an equal shareholder and transfer to Reykjavik. Together with the Chairman, Ólafur Ólafsson, these two executives will constitute the new top management team of the Samskip shipping and logistics company.
Samskip has grown extensively both in Iceland and internationally over the past few years and, according to Mr Ólafsson, the strengthening of the management team will enable the company to pursue a course of accelerated growth in the coming years.
Mr Hassing, who currently resides in London, will be responsible for developing Samskip's fast growing container shipping and international forwarding businesses.
Mr Gíslason will return from the Netherlands to Iceland and will have responsibility for Samskip's domestic operations. In addition, he will oversee the reefer logistic activities which include relevant parts of the recently acquired Dutch Kloosterboer Group and the reefer vessel operation of Silver Sea.
Mr Hassing joined Maersk in 1979 and has held positions in Singapore, Hong Kong, Holland, Japan, the UK and, of course, Denmark. His most recent appointment was as Managing Director of The Maersk Company, the A P Moller Group's UK subsidiary whose activities encompass ship-owning, liner agency, global logistics, intermodal operations and investments in the offshore energy sector. Mr Hassing was also a member of the Maersk Logistics International (Global) Board.
Welcoming Mr Hassing to Samskip, Mr Ólafsson said:
"Michael has an enormous amount of experience that is highly relevant to Samskip and our future plans. He will be one of the main shareholders and will have a crucial role to play in making Samskip a truly global company.
Samskip, which has a well established shortsea shipping operation linking North Europe, Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea, acquired Geest North Sea Line in April 2005, thus making it Europe's leading shortsea/intermodal container operator. According to Mr Ólafsson, Samskip intends to expand this sector of its business further both through organic growth and by acquisition:
"We also plan to expand our international reefer forwarding activities, especially in the eastbound and westbound trades between Asia and Europe. As an Icelandic company, Samskip has accumulated a great deal of knowledge regarding the transport of seafood products and we want to utilise this expertise on an international stage."
Explaining his decision to join Samskip, Mr Hassing said:
"I have known Ólafur Ólafsson for many years and we are good friends. Knowing what his aspirations are for Samskip, it was difficult to resist the invitation to join the Company as a shareholder and CEO when the opportunity arose.
"In the areas where I will be principally engaged, the shortsea and international shipping and forwarding businesses, there are enormous opportunities open to us in servicing the needs of the many companies who are seeking more efficient end-to-end transport solutions. The trend is very clear.
"The Samskip team has both the ambition and the skill to achieve a great deal. We have an exciting future ahead of us."
Mr Gíslason joined Samskip straight from university in 1996 and was appointed Managing Director of Samskip BV in Rotterdam in 1999. He became CEO of Samskip in 2003.
Mr Gíslason looks at what has been achieved so far:
"We have been on a fast track over the past few years. Through the establishment of our own service routes and office network, and through strategic acquisitions, we have managed to develop a leading intra European shortsea shipping network. In addition, we have developed into one of the leading reefer logistics specialists, providing comprehensive services for the fishing industry, including shipping, storage and distribution networks. After very exciting times on the European mainland, I look forward to returning to Iceland."
--------------Facts & figures--------------
Samskip employs 1,300 staff in 49 offices in 21 countries. Container movements by Samskip and its partners should reach 800,000TEU in 2005. The company expects to generate over Euro 500m in revenue from its shipping and logistics activities.
21 container vessels are employed on the Icelandic services and on the shortsea services of Samskip, Geest and TECO. The total container fleet amounts to 12,000 units or approximately 23,000TEU.
Including Silver Sea, in which Samskip has a 40% stake, the company operates 15 conventional reefer vessels that transport around 1.1m tonnes of fish per annum while a further 15 vessels carry conventional and project/heavylift cargo to Norway and to the Black Sea and Caspian Sea via the Mediterranean and, during the summer, via St Petersburg and the Volga Canal System.
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For further information, please contact:
Michael Hassing: +44 790 171 5775
Àsbjörn Gíslason: +31 610 917 145
Ólafur Ólafsson: +354 693 8333
