Euronav has a new supervisory board in place as the Belgian tanker company tries to find a path forward between warring shareholders.

The New York and Brussels-listed operation’s annual general meeting on Wednesday resulted in the election of two new independent board members, Julie de Nul and Ole Henrik Bjorge.

But the shipowner has lost another member of its management board.

General counsel Egied Verbeeck, born in 1974, is leaving with immediate effect by mutual agreement.

This follows the departure of chief executive Hugo De Stoop on Tuesday.

Verbeeck joined Euronav in 2006 and has been instrumental in building the company into the largest independent crude tanker platform in the world through multiple corporate transactions, including the company’s listing on the NYSE, the company said.

As with De Stoop, the lawyer will be available in an advisory capacity to support a smooth transition until the beginning of July.

New directors De Nul and Bjorge will serve terms of two years, joining chair Grace Reksten Skaugen as independent members.

The two big shareholding groups have two directors each: John Fredriksen and Cato Stonex representing the Fredriksen group, and Marc Saverys and Patrick de Brabandere for the Saverys family and CMB.

CMB blocked Fredriksen’s bid to combine the Euronav fleet with his own Oslo-listed tanker company Frontline.

De Nul and Bjorge are replacing Anita Odedra and Carl Trowell, whose terms have expired.

Second time lucky

Odedra is chief commercial officer at LNG company Tellurian, and a former executive vice president at Angelicoussis Group.

Trowell is president of the UK’s National Grid.

De Nul has succeeded in a second attempt to become a director.

The chief executive of Belgian offshore shipping group Jan De Nul’s dredging subsidiary was rejected by shareholders in March when she was nominated by CMB.

She has since been able to demonstrate she met the requirements of Belgian law for independence and was put up for election again.

Bjorge is the owner and chief executive of Nes Invest in Norway and sits on the board of shipping investor HitecVision and shipyard group Ulstein.

He was chief executive of Pareto Securities for 13 years.

The meeting also approved a pay-out to shareholders of $1.10 per share for 2022.

Euronav is being run by chief financial officer Lieve Logghe as interim CEO until a permanent appointment is made.

Download the TradeWinds news app
The news app offers you more control over your TradeWinds reading experience than any other platform.