By Leo Ryan, Editor Maritime Magazine
Paul Pathy, President and CEO of Fednav International Ltd, has been elected as President Designate of BIMCO, it was announced today following the general meeting in Hong Kong of the world’s biggest shipping association. He is the first Canadian shipping figure to be so nominated with the Copenhagen-based association whose 2,000 members in 130 countries cover 60% of the world fleet.
“This is an exciting development,” indicated Thomas Damsgaard, Head of Americas for BIMCO with a corporate office in Houston, Texas. “It’s a natural progression of BIMCO opening up in the Americas,” he told Maritime Magazine while attending in Montreal the 22nd annual conference of the Shipping Federation of Canada.
At the helm of Canada’s largest ocean-going bulk shipping enterprise which is also the leading user of the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence waterway, Mr. Pathy is to assume the post in two years.
He will succeed Nikolaus H. Schües, CEO and owner of Reederei F. Laeisz, who has been appointed the 46th President of BIMCO and the first German national holding the position since 2011. He takes over from Sabrina Chao of Wah Kwong Maritime Transport Holdings Limited, who has completed her two-year term.
“I am honoured to be elected President of an organisation that represents over 60 percent of the world’s tonnage at a time when the task of decarbonising our industry is becoming increasingly urgent,” said Mr. Schües.
“One of my key priorities over the next two years is for BIMCO to be a strong force within the area of digitalisation and optimisation of shipping,” he added. “I believe it is crucial that we focus on the solutions that can help us advance today, and not fall into the trap of focusing exclusively on the right fuels of tomorrow. Our industry has digital solutions ready to go, which can cut our carbon footprint now. I see tremendous potential in helping the industry implement such solutions and making shipping greener in the process.”
Nikolaus H. Schües joined Reederei F. Laeisz, which celebrates its 200th anniversary in 2024, in 1993. He is a member of the Presidential Committee of the German Shipowners Association, Deputy Chairman of the UK P & I Club, Member of the Norwegian Hull Club Committee and Member of the Board of Directors of the Schutzverein Deutscher Rheder.
BIMCO presidents serve a two-year term. To ensure organisational continuity, the President Designate sits on the Board for two years before being put up for election as President. The outgoing President remains on the Board for an additional two-year term as Immediate Past President after which Past Presidents are ex-officio Board members.
(Fednav photo)
