The Baltic Exchange’s head of Asia Pacific Chris Jones and Asia Pacific head of sales Marcus Lee have quit the Singapore Exchange-controlled shipping organisation.
TradeWinds understands that Lee submitted his resignation at the end of January while Jones will leave the Baltic on Friday.
Jones, when contacted by TradeWinds, confirmed that he had resigned. However, he declined to elaborate on the reasons behind his and Lee’s decisions to leave beyond saying they were made in order to pursue other personal interests.
Jones, a former S&P shipbroker with a career in shipping that spans four decades, joined the Baltic in February 2014, replacing then director of Asia Pacific Philip Williams, who retired.
His most recent project was the setting up of the Baltic’s escrow service, which is run out of Singapore with the backing of the SGX and OCBC Bank.
Lee, who joined the Baltic as a freight market reporter in 2010, set up its Shanghai office 2013 before returning to Singapore last year.
Observers familiar with the Baltic said that efforts are now underway to recruit a new Singapore team.
