WORK BOAT WORLD:
Propspeed has selected Joe Mercurio to serve as its new Gulf Coast Sales Manager and Technical Support.
In this role, Mercurio will work with distributors, boat yards, dealers, marine businesses, applicators and customers across the US Gulf Coast, strengthening regional relationships and providing sales and technical support.
Mercurio brings more than 20 years of marine industry experience to Propspeed, with a background in sales channel and brand management, including experience with Yanmar Marine International.
Maritime sensor specialist Sea.AI has appointed Olivier Jacques as the new Sales Manager of its French entity.
Jacques will support Sea.AI's growing engagement with naval forces, maritime security organisations and autonomous systems operators.
Jacques served 27 years as an officer in the French Navy, including 20 years within the submarine forces. During the latter part of his military career, he also contributed to defence innovation initiatives in collaboration with the French Defence Procurement Agency.
Maritime autonomy company Greenroom Robotics has appointed Stephen Fujiwara as Senior Director of Growth – USA, strengthening the company’s presence in the United States as it expands across defense maritime markets.
Fujiwara brings more than 20 years of experience spanning the US Navy, defence technology and commercial growth, including 16 years serving in the US Navy’s submarine force.
He served as an unmanned underwater vehicle mission control officer in the navy before moving into senior roles in the US defence technology sector.
Canadian ship repair and marine services company Newdock – St. John’s Dockyard has appointed Jared Newcombe to serve as its new Chief Executive Officer.
Newcombe brings more than three decades of shipbuilding, ship repair and executive leadership experience to his new role. Over the past decade, he has held senior executive leadership roles at major Canadian shipyards, including serving as CEO and COO at Davie and as Chief Commercial and Strategy Officer at Ontario Shipyards.
Sea Machines Robotics has hired Courtney Bradbury to assume the newly created role of Vice President of Program Management.
In this role, he will oversee the company's management and delivery of large-scale autonomous vessel programs.
Bradbury is a registered professional engineer in Washington State and holds an unlimited tonnage mate's licence and a degree in naval architecture and marine engineering from the State University of New York Maritime College. He began his career at sea before moving into vessel design and later managing offshore engineering programs.
Prior to joining Sea Machines, Bradbury was the Director of Development at Foss Maritime.
Lloyd’s Register (LR) has appointed Hossam Edris as Naval Business Director for the Middle East, strengthening LR’s capability to support naval and defence programmes across the region.
Based in Dubai, Edris will lead LR's naval and defence business development activities across the Middle East, working closely with government and industry stakeholders.
Edris brings more than 20 years of international experience across the aerospace, defence, aviation and technology sectors. Most recently, he managed International Defence Programs at Bombardier Defense, where he led complex defence programmes for customers worldwide, overseeing programme delivery, business performance, customer engagement and strategic growth initiatives.
Lloyd’s Register has appointed Jens Grunenberg as its Senior Representative for Germany, effective September 1, 2026.
Based in Hamburg, Grunenberg will represent LR across Germany, joining the Hamburg management team while acting as a senior representative for the wider German maritime community.
As Senior Representative, Grunenberg will focus on expanding engagement across Germany’s maritime sector, strengthening LR’s visibility in the market and ensuring shipowners, operators and industry partners can access support across the organisation’s full portfolio of services.
A qualified marine engineer trained at the Maritime School in Cuxhaven, Germany, Grunenberg began his career in the container shipping sector before progressing through engineering and technical management positions across a range of vessel types. He later held roles with AIDA Cruises, Deutsche Fischfang Union and TUI Cruises, advancing from marine engineer and chief engineer positions to superintendent and ship management roles.
Most recently, he served as Fleet Technical Director at the Royal Caribbean Group, where he was responsible for the marine technical fleet operations of the TUI Cruises fleet.
Grunenberg joined LR in July 2026 where he has served and will continue as Germany Commercial Manager.
Svitzer has appointed Matthew Gordon as its Managing Director in the UK, where he will oversee an operation comprising more than 75 tugs and support vessels and around 800 people across 10 ports.
Gordon has extensive experience in the maritime services industry, having served as CEO of North Star, as Managing Director, UK, at Atlantic Offshore, and as Managing Director, UK, at Vroon Offshore Services.
Gordon started in his new position on October 5, 2026.
SHIP WORLD:
DP World has appointed Jason Varsamidis as the new Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director for the Asia Pacific region.
Varsamidis will lead DP World Asia Pacific’s portfolio of ports and terminals and logistics businesses across 22 geographies, with more than 12,000 employees. He brings close to three decades of experience with DP World and the then P&O Ports, which he joined in 1997.
He most recently served as Chief Financial Officer of DP World Asia Pacific since 2020. Before that, he was Chief Financial Officer of DP World Australia for seven years. Across his career, he has overseen mergers and acquisitions, infrastructure projects and business turnaround programmes.
The International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) has elected Sean M. Dalton as its new President.
Dalton will formally take up the presidency at the close of this year’s IUMI conference. He will serve a four-year term.
Dalton served as IUMI Vice President until his election. The Vice-President position will now be filled by Tom Shinya, Senior Expert, Marine Underwriting Department, Tokio Marine and Nichido Fire Insurance, and an IUMI Executive Committee Member.
Based in New York, Dalton is Executive Vice President and Head of Marine Underwriting, North America, for Munich Reinsurance America. He is also Chair of the American Institute of Marine Underwriters as well as a member of the American Bureau of Shipping and a former Chair of the National Cargo Bureau.
Dalton succeeds Frédéric Denèfle, who has served as IUMI President since 2022.
Crowley has selected Brea Schmidt to serve as its new Chief Financial Officer. She will report to Chairman and CEO Tom Crowley.
Schmidt joined Crowley in 2025 as a Vice President of Finance and led financial planning and analysis across the enterprise. Prior to joining Crowley, she served as CFO of Alaska Communications.
Based in Jacksonville, she holds a degree in business administration from Washburn University, and she is certified as a chartered financial analyst and previously held a certified public accountant license.
Pacific International Lines (PIL) has appointed Wan Chee Foong as its new Chief Executive Officer.
Wan will succeed Lars Kastrup, who will step down from the post in April 2027. During the intervening six-month period, Wan will work alongside Kastrup and the senior leadership team, progressively assuming responsibility for the group’s commercial, operational and strategic priorities.
Wan brings nearly three decades of leadership across transportation, ports and logistics, spanning operations, investment and strategy. At PSA International, he held senior operating roles including Regional CEO for the Middle East and South Asia, Head of Group Business and Commercial Development. He was also CEO at PSA BDP, PSA’s global supply chain solutions business. He was a member of PSA International’s Senior Management Council from 2014 to 2025.
Wan joins PIL from Temasek where he currently serves as Managing Director, Corporate Strategy, and started his career in Singapore Airlines. Beyond his executive career, he serves as an independent director of Bahri, the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia, and sits on the board of the National Council of Social Service.
Anders Boenaes, currently Senior Managing Director Network at Hapag-Lloyd, will become the new Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the company as of October 1, 2026.
Boenaes started his maritime career at Maersk in 1993. In 2009, he became Vice President and Head of Africa Trades and as of 2014, he was Senior Vice President Network at Maersk Liner Business.
Boenaes joined Hapag-Lloyd in 2020 as Senior Managing Director Network and as a member of the Executive Committee. As Senior Managing Director Network, he is currently responsible for the company´s global liner network, the container fleet and global operations.