Generations of Irish people have historically upped sticks for a better life in the US. At Ardmore, a former New York broker and an ex-Wall Street player have done the opposite.
Former shipbroker Gernot Ruppelt has been at Ardmore Shipping for 11 years, having been brought in by founder Anthony Gurnee to build up the commercial operations side.
The German father of two swapped a position with New York broker Poten & Partners for the lure of Cork, south-east Ireland.
“My career started at Maersk, where I went into their in-house programme back in 2001 and that was very foundational in terms of getting to understand the business,” said Ruppelt, who will take over as CEO when Gurnee steps down in September.
Ruppelt’s stint with the giant Danish group as a trade manager made him “fall in love” with shipping: “That kind of opened up kind of the world in that sense.”
He had the chance to live and work in Asian and European countries before heading to Poten as a tanker projects broker.
He described the brokerage as small, but “purpose-oriented, very connected” with “great performance” and a “really great team, which was equally foundational in many ways”.
He said Ardmore is more entrepreneurial than either of his past employers.
Chief financial officer Bart Kelleher, whose role will be expanded to include that of president, is a more recent recruit, having spent nearly two years in Cork.
He studied naval architecture at State University of New York Maritime College, planning to work in ship design and construction.
“But then came the opportunity to sail on tankers as an officer when I graduated and I did that for a short period,” he told TradeWinds. “When I came shoreside, I had an appreciation that if I was going to stay in the business I needed to build up my financial background, and so back to New York and Columbia Business School.
“And then when I finished, as opposed to going right back to the shipping industry, I worked on Wall Street for several years as an equity analyst covering industrials and then as a banker both doing renewable energy and oil and gas projects and then ultimately shipping.”
It was not until after the financial crisis that the father of three joined a shipping company, becoming chief operating officer at suezmax owner Principal Maritime.
“Then literally a half-mile down the road in Connecticut from Principal Maritime’s office was Chembulk Tankers,” Kelleher added.
He joined Principal in 2016, leaving in 2022 after becoming CEO.
“Tony [Gurnee] called and had an opportunity, and I really did think maybe I was going to take a break and I was working with some venture capitalists on maritime technology type of plays,” Kelleher recalled.
“But this opportunity was too good to pass up, and so for the first year I commuted from Connecticut about one week a month or so, and then spent time with the team in other geographies. Our family moved over last August.
“It’s hard to believe our kids have finished the first school year. We feel settled here.”
It is also a return of sorts for the family: Kelleher and his wife’s grandparents and great-grandparents came from County Cork and County Kerry.
“Thinking back to my grandfather in particular on my dad’s side, he was number 13 of 14 children, grew up in poverty, left Ireland for opportunity, emigrated to the US, settled in Buffalo, New York, and met my grandmother, who also emigrated from the Dingle Peninsula and County Kerry,” Kelleher said.
“For him, it was always about education and hard work.
“And the fact that two generations later I’m back here in Ireland by choice for an amazing opportunity — a story that we never would have fathomed.”
As for past dealings with Gurnee, Kelleher said they both went to Columbia Business School and ended up in maritime finance and ship ownership, and have shared panels at industry conferences down the years.
But the two men had never had the chance to either do a deal or to work closely together.
“So it was just really unique when the opportunity came up and the discussions progressed pretty rapidly,” Kelleher said.
“Long story short, all of a sudden you find yourself waking up in Ireland and working for Tony and then Tony retiring.”
