Sad Demise of a Road Haulage and Air Freight Legend

UK – We start this week’s staff changes in the freight and shipping world on a sombre note with the passing of Roy Bowles OBE, the founder and life Chairman of air cargo specialist, Roy Bowles Transport, after a short illness on January 22. He was also honoured with the OBE for service to the haulage industry in 1994, after serving as National Chairman of the Road Haulage Association. Bowles was an original trustee of the RHA Benevolent Fund established to assist anyone in need within the industry. The company will continue under the management and control of Stephen and Julie Bowles, Roy’s son and daughter.

UK – Beverley Bell FCILT, Senior Traffic Commissioner for Great Britain, will take up the one-year Presidency of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) from Jim Spittle FCILT when he passes the honour at an inauguration lunch on May 8. Bell has been a Fellow of the Institute for nearly ten years and a Vice President for the past two years. Bell has long championed women entering the transport sector and her new appointment has been meet with industry-wide praise with Ruth Waring FCILT, founder and Chair of Women in Logistics UK, saying:

"Women in Logistics UK is delighted to hear of the appointment of Beverley Bell the Senior Traffic Commissioner as President designate of the CILT. Mrs Bell has been a staunch supporter of WiL since she spoke at our first event in 2009, and we are thrilled to see that she is now taking on this new challenge. We know that Mrs Bell will continue to work with WiL in her new capacity and, with her help, we look forward to doing more to attract and retain great female talent in the logistics sector."

UK – Two new appointments at GAC UK has been announced. Based in Shetlands, Adrian Henry has been named as the Offshore Manager for the UK, in addition to his responsibilities as Branch Manager of GAC Shetland, and Michael Henderson has been promoted from Agency Manager to Branch Manager of GAC Aberdeen.

UK – Global Freight has appointed Anton Gunter to the newly created role of National Sales Manager.

UK – AUSTRALIA – Lord Kerr and Michael Fitzpatrick, non-Executive Directors of Rio Tinto, will be retiring from the board this year. They will not seek re-election as in their roles at Rio Tinto plc and Rio Tinto Limited, respectively, and will retire from the board on May 7.

UK – CHINA – Paragon Software Systems has announced two new appointments to its China arm with Danvers Dai joining the Business Development team with Liz Zheng taking up a role in the company’s Dorking, Surrey based Support team.

DUBAI – As of February 1, former Vice President Commercial of Saudia Cargo, Peter Scholten has become the CEO of Fast Logistics Solutions.

SAUDI ARABIA – Saudia Cargo has appointed Mike Duggan as Director of Charter Sales, based in Jeddah.

GERMANY – Hansa Heavy Lift has appointed Maximilian Harmstorf as Head of its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, based in Hamburg, Germany.

NORWAY – Statoil has formally announced Eldar Sætre as President and CEO, having been in the role in an acting capacity since October.

IRELAND – Andrew Sheen has been appointed as the new Managing Director of Irish Ferries, effective beginning of April. Irish Continental Group’s Marketing Director, Tony Kelly has announced his retirement effective end of March.

GREECE – The Union of Greek Shipowners has re-elected Theodore Veniamis as President for a third, three-year term.

CANADA – Canadian Pacific has announced that its Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Bart Demosky has decided to leave the company, effective May 31.

US – INTTRA has announced two new members of its senior leadership team with the appointments of Inna Kuznetsova as head of INTTRA’s Marketplace business and Bill Schwebel as head of its Vision data business. Prior to joining INTTRA, Kuznetsova served as Chief Commercial Officer and a Member of the Executive Board at CEVA Logistics whilst Schwebel was General Manager of INRIX

US – CSX Corporation has announced that its Board of Directors unanimously elected Oscar Munoz as President. Munoz assumes this new role effective immediately and also remains Chief Operating Officer. Michael Ward is to remain as Chairman and CEO. Vice President and Chief Transportation Officer Cindy Sanborn has been promoted to Executive Vice President-Operations, reporting to Munoz, effective immediately.

BRAZIL – Petrobras has announced that its Chief Executive Officer, Maria das Gracas Foster and five of her top managers have stepped down amid an ongoing corruption probe. Aldemir Bendine has been named as her successor. Bendine was CEO and member of the Board of Directors of Banco do Brasil. Ivan de Souza Monteiro, former Senior Vice President of Financial Management and Investor Relations again at Banco do Brasil, has been appointed Chief Financial Officer and Chief Investor Relations Officer, replacing Almir Guilherme Barbassa.

Former Executive Manager of Corporate Exploration and Production, Solange da Silva Guedes, replaces Miranda Formigli Filho as Exploration and Production Officer. Previous Executive Manager of Downstream Logistics, Jorge Celestino Ramos, is now Downstream Officer, replacing José Carlos Cosenza. Executive Manager of Corporate Gas and Power, Hugo Repsold Júnior, replaces José Alcides Santoro Martins as Gas and Power Officer. Finally, the former Executive Manager of Engineering for Subsea Developments, Roberto Moro, has been named to replace José Antônio de Figueiredo as Engineering, Technology and Procurement Officer.