Interim BW LPG chief executive Anders Onarheim has been appointed to the job on a permanent basis.

The board member replaced Martin Ackermann on 9 December temporarily at the Oslo-listed BW Group spin-off.

Andreas Sohmen-Pao, chairman of BW LPG, said he was delighted that Onarheim agreed to stay on.

"Anders knows BW LPG well, having served on the board for many years," he added.

"We are delighted that he has agreed to continue in this role, and we look forward to benefiting from his leadership and experience."

Onarheim has been a non-executive director of BW LPG since 2013 and was previously managing director of Nordic investment bank Carnegie.

In-demand director

The Norwegian national is a busy board member, chairing Mercante, Arkipel and North Energy.

He is also listed as being a director of five other companies, including Reach Subsea.

Onarheim has also worked at Merrill Lynch in London, and Goldman Sachs.

Ackermann decided to leave his job after five years in Singapore for "family reasons".

He said of his departure: "It has been a privilege to lead BW LPG through some challenging years and to see it continue as a strong platform for the future."

Prior to taking the top job at BW LPG, Ackermann was chief executive of Evergas, where he rose through the ranks from his start as chartering manager.

With strong spot rates and higher fleet utilisation, BW LPG booked a fourth quarter net profit of $154m versus $34.2m a year earlier.