The new owners of Singapore container line SeaLead have appointed a new board.
The company has selected Suleyman Avci as global chief executive, tasked with overseeing strategic growth.
Avci replaces Henry Schmidl who left in February following a takeover of the company by a group of Singapore and Mauritius-based investors.
He is joined in the board reshuffle by SC Chan, currently the interim head, who takes over as chairman.
Both Avci and Chan are liner veterans and bring more than three decades of industry experience.
At SeaLead, Avci was vice president of global trade management and managing director for Europe and the Mediterranean.
He previously held senior roles including managing director of Turkey’s Arkas Line and chief operating officer at MAS Shipping in Dubai.
He also holds a bachelor’s degree in electronics engineering from the Turkish Naval Academy.
“I look forward to taking SeaLead into its next chapter of growth, leveraging our robust financial position and strategic partnerships to continue our expansion into strategic regions,” Avci said.
The company would “build strong teams under capable leadership, and strategically timing our investments to enhance our asset base”, he added.
Five-man board
Chan, an experienced former executive at Orient Overseas Container Line, took over as acting head on an interim basis in February.
He will chair a board of five non-executive directors that includes Joachim Schlotfeldt, Kim Young So, Subhangshu Dutt and Martin Kaalund.
These changes follow SeaLead’s acquisition by a consortium of investors five months ago.
In February, the company was taken over by Singapore’s Eurasia Capital, Mauritius-based fund HCP Investments, Access Capital Funds in the Cayman Islands and Saral Incorp VCC SubFund, also based in Mauritius.
SeaLead said that the appointment of a new board comes “at a time of continued growth and expansion in strategic regions”.
This includes the inauguration of a new office in its Singapore headquarters to serve as a central hub for its global operations.
The company said in a statement it had “achieved its operational goals both in terms of business performance and financial results”.
The carrier had “increased its market share through expansion of new routes and connections in the container shipping markets regionally and globally”.
The company has been expanding and has just moved into the booming transpacific trade.
SeaLead was formed in 2017 under private ownership and now has 22 chartered ships.
It is listed as the 16th-largest liner operator and operates a fleet of 38 container vessels from 600 teu up to 10,100 teu, according to Alphaliner.
