Ove Meyer has stepped away from actively running Zeaborn Group since co-founding the German shipping group six years ago.

Meyer has resigned as managing director of subsidiaries Zeamarine, an operator of more than 80 heavy-lift MPPs, and Zeaborn Ship Management, effective immediately.

He launched the company with managing partner Kurt Zech and real estate professional Jan Hendrik Tobbe in 2013.

He will stay involved with the company as a managing partner of Zeaborn Holding, parent entity for Zeaborn Group.

“It has been more than six exciting and intense years, during which we built up Zeaborn through takeovers, mergers and post-merger integrations into a globally active shipping company in commercial and technical management," he said in a statement.

Zeamarine is now led by chief commercial officer Dominik Stehle, chief operations oficer Nicki Schumacher and chief financial officer Michael Dumas.

They will also serve as Zeamarine's three managing directors.

Zeamarine was formed in 2018 through as joint venture with US-based Intermarine that included Zeaborn-owned Rickmers Line. Stehle joined the company in November.

Zeaborn Ship Management's c-level leadership includes chief executive Rob Grool, chief operations officer Michael Brandhoff and chief financial officer Erik Cruse.

Meyer said he will devote a few months to looking after matters "that have been shortchanged over the past couple of years" before pursuing new challenges.

He said both companies' c-level management has retained "some outstanding managers" while the company has undergone significant expansion.

"In particular, the integration of Zeamarine, which I accompanied as owner’s representative, has moved forward at a significant pace," he said.

"This is now a good time to withdraw from the operational business."

Tobbe and Zech thanked Ove Meyer for his service to Zeaborn and Zeamarine.

“Irrespectively, I would be pleased if Ove Meyer took over some other tasks in the Zeaborn Group after his break,” Zech said.