The Weekly Appointments List for the Shipping and Transport Sector

UAE – Gulf Marine Services (GMS), operator of a fleet of lift vessels primarily serving the offshore energy sector, has announced the appointment of Alex Aclimandos as Chief Financial Officer with immediate effect. Alex brings with him a wealth of progressive international financial management experience gained in over 27 years with first-tier companies.

These include such as Proctor & Gamble, ABB and Alvarez and Marsal. In his recent role, Alex was the Chief Financial Officer at Qatari Investors Group, a publicly listed company. He holds an MBA and is a US Certified Management Accountant. Andy Robertson who has most recently served in the role will remain available to assist with an orderly handover of his duties and responsibilities after which he will be leaving GMS after almost 14 years of service with the Company.

NORWAY – Former shipping banker Ronny Bjornadal has agreed to join the board of Norwegian zero-emissions cruise venture Northern Xplorer AS  with immediate effect. With over 25 years of experience in shipping banking, including strong exposure to the cruise industry, Bjornadal will assume an active role as executive director with special focus on debt financing.

Since 2020, Bjornadal has been a partner and managing director of Affinity Shipping & Finance in Oslo. Prior to that he was Managing Director and Head of Global Maritime Loans at Nordea Bank, responsible for origination, structuring, syndicating and agenting of large syndicated loan facilities and export credit financings in the international bank market.

US – President Joe Biden’s pick to join the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) won Senate confirmation after months of delay, shifting the balance to a Democratic majority on a panel that regulates US international ocean transportation. Max Vekich, a former longshoreman who served in the House of Representatives in Washington State, will become the fifth member of the independent panel, succeeding Republican Michael Khouri, whose five-year term formally expired in June. The Senate voted 51-43 to confirm him Thursday.

International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) international president Willie Adams praised the appointment saying Mr Vekich was ‘the FMC Commissioner that America needs right now’. The FMC has come into the spotlight as recent supply chain bottlenecks spurred increased calls for a crackdown on unfair ocean carrier practices. The ILWU says bipartisan bills advancing in Congress would revamp US international ocean-shipping laws for the first time in more than two decades, expanding the commission’s power.

UK – BULGARIA – Middle-mile cargo drone developer and operator DRONAMICS has appointed three industry veterans to its R&D team to aid development and production of the launch of their commercial same-day delivery service with the Black Swan UAV this year. Current strategic advisor Andy Cox is transitioning into a management role joining as Director Systems and Avionics. He will be based in the UK.

In Bulgaria Atanas Gagov is joining the company as Director of Engineering and Project Management. Atanas has vast experience as an Engineering leader from some of the world’s most iconic brands, such as Apple, Tesla, and most recently Waymo, the Alphabet company. Luis Enrique de la Iglesia y Gotarredona joins as Director of Manufacturing. He has led teams across 7 countries on 3 continents, working for companies such as Goodrich Aerospace, Pilatus Aircraft, Daher-SOCATA, Mitsubishi Aircraft, ABB-Alstom and MTorres, among others.

Photo: L to R. DRONAMICS appointees Andy Cox, Atanas Gagov and Luis Enrique de la Iglesia y Gotarredona.