Guy Platten will step down as secretary general of the International Chamber of Shipping in 2025 after nearly seven years in charge.
Platten said it was the “right time” for someone else to take the lead of the shipowner organisation but he will remain in charge until the middle of next year to ensure a smooth handover.
“Working as ICS secretary general has been the highlight of my career and I am proud of what we have achieved,” he said.
“This has not been an easy decision, but I feel it is the right time for someone else to take the lead.”
Platten headed the chamber’s response to attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and promoted the industry’s progress on decarbonisation at last year’s climate change summit in Dubai.
He said decision-makers need to understand the key role of shipping in the energy transition to ensure it secures its fair share of a new generation of green fuels.
The process to find his replacement will start this summer. He will follow another senior ICS figure out of the door. Chris Oliver, the principal director marine, will retire at the beginning of next year.
Platten, a qualified master mariner, served as head of the UK Chamber of Shipping before being appointed to lead the ICS in August 2018.
He is a former inspector at the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and was a salvage officer for the UK defence ministry, working on projects including the removal of oil from a sunken World War Two battleship.
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