A change of guard is taking place at energy major Shell with Karrie Trauth due to formally take the head of shipping hot seat from 1 August, as incumbent Grahaeme Henderson retires.
Those working with the major said handovers are in progress with Trauth, who was previously general manager shipping and maritime for Shell in the Americas, having relocated to the UK.
Replying to TradeWinds questions, a spokesman for Shell said: "Karrie Trauth will be taking over as senior vice president of shipping and maritime, from 1 August 2021. She will be based in London."
He added: “Grahaeme is retiring after a long and distinguished career in Shell over 35 years. He will be taking on other responsibilities in the sector with a focus on safety following his departure from Shell.”
In September 2020, Henderson took on a lead role with industry coalition Together in Safety, which aims to improve safety in the shipping industry.
Naval architect
The head of shipping switch had been expected to take place early this year after Shell staff were informed of the new appointment in December. But it was delayed until the summer.
A graduate in ocean engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with an MBA from Georgetown University, Trauth served in the US Navy and has worked as a naval architect with Ingalls Shipbuilding and Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding.
She started work with Shell as a shipping project manager in Houston in 2012, moving on to become manager of LNG marine fuel projects in the UK before returning to the US as general manager for shipping, maritime technology and innovation.
Trauth has written on the major’s website about how her female partner encouraged her to join Shell and the importance of the need for LGBT advocacy at work.
Clear out
Trauth's appointment is one of several department head switches at Shell.
One former Shell employee working in the tanker industry described the major as having “a good old clear out”.
TradeWinds was told that Nick Osborne will be taking on the position of global head of crude freight trading, replacing Prashanth Dev who previously held a slightly expanded version of this role.
Harvonne Yap is coming in as global head of clean freight trading. She replaces Stavros Kokkinis.
Last year it emerged that Stacie Pitts was being brought in as head of crude oil trading to replace retiree Mark Quartermain, with Alice Acuna becoming Shell's new head of LNG trading.
Shell UK said last year that it is working to have 35% female senior leaders in the UK by 2025, after growing this to 32.6% in 2020. The company is also working to improve its gender pay gap.
TradeWinds was the first to report Henderson's appointment in 2011 when he succeeded Jan Kopernicki. Previously Henderson was head of Brunei Shell Petroleum.
