Danish shipping grandee Flemming Jacobs has stepped down from his formal role on the board of the Global Maritime Forum, the influential industry lobby group he helped found.
The announcement accompanied the launch of the Global Maritime Forum’s second Future Maritime Leaders' essay competition for young people to contribute their vision on how shipping can contribute to reaching the United Nations' 17 sustainability goals.
Jacobs, who spent much of his career at shipping giant Maersk before retiring to the UK, has passed the Global Maritime Forum’s statutory age limit of 75 for directors.
However, he has not severed his links to the organisation entirely. Now aged 76, he will take on a new advisory role as a non-executive director emeritus to the board.
Future vision
The winners of the essay competition will be invited to attend the Global Maritime Forum’s virtual high-level meeting later this year, as well as the annual summit in London, which was recently postponed from this year to an as-yet-to-be-fixed new date in 2021.
Last year's winners — from Nigeria, China and Denmark — addressed climate change, trade flows and the impact of digitalisation on ship crews.
Their vision made an impact among delegates when they attended the Global Maritime Forum in October last year.
New directors
Meanwhile, the Global Maritime Forum confirmed the new board members have been elected: Anthony Papadimitriou of the Onassis Foundation, AP Moller Holding director Claus V Hemmingsen and Cargill head of shipping Jan Dieleman.
The Global Maritime Forum grew out of the Danish Maritime Forum, a public-private initiative started in 2014 to leverage Denmark's leading position as progressive influence in the industry.
The annual events were part-funded by government, and driven by Jacobs' relentless arm-twisting of his influential global network of contacts.
