Hoegh Autoliners chairman Leif O Hoegh said questions of strategy are behind the decision by the car carrier operator's chief executive and chief financial officer to leave.
“They chose to leave due to different views on the future,” Hoegh said.
He declined to reveal further details behind the reasons for the disagreements. CEO Ivar Hansson Myklebust and CFO Ingrid Due-Gundersen chose to resign last week.
They will both serve their notice periods, which TradeWinds understands to be about six months.
Myklebust said he has yet to find a new position. “It is a large enough decision to retire,” he added.
But Hoegh Autoliners this week decided to re-employ veteran Thor Jorgen Guttormsen, 70, as new CEO. He has sat on the board of the company for five years.
During his entire career, he has been employed in the Leif Hoegh Group. He has also been CEO of majority owner Leif Hoegh & Co.
Guttormsen has also served as president of the Norwegian Shipowners' Association.
Due-Gundersen is being replaced by Andreas Enger from consultancy Monitor Deloitte.
Chairman Hoegh said there is no secret that Hoegh Autoliners has had poor results, but he insisted that the company's top executives left voluntarily.
He said both of the company's shareholders, including minority shareholder AP Moller-Maersk, agreed with the decision.
TradeWinds reported last month that Hoegh Autoliners had a pre-tax loss of $55m for last year, against a $24.7m loss in 2017.
