KKR-controlled Norwegian sale-and-leaseback shipowner Ocean Yield has slimmed down its board of directors.
The company said in an Oslo Stock Exchange filing that chief executive Andreas Rode and finance chief Eirik Eide will resign from the board, but continue in their executive roles.
At the same time, lawyer Rebecca Lund Nakkim will join as a director, effective from Wednesday.
Nakkim has a Master of Laws degree from the University of Oslo and is a managing associate at Oslo law firm BAHR, with a focus on shipping and finance.
The board will now consist of Nakkim plus two KKR representatives: chair Vincent Policard, partner and co-head of European infrastructure, and London-based infrastructure principal Bernardo Nogueira as vice chair.
Eide told TradeWinds the company was making the changes to be compliant with new Norwegian regulations next year.
These require female representation on boards to be above a certain size.
US private equity giant KKR bought Ocean Yield in 2021 for $810m.
Rode became chief executive, replacing Lars Solbakken, who left the firm after 40 years in shipping.
In November, Ocean Yield said it was not concerned by any charter risk related to its new container ships, despite a rate slump from recent all-time peaks.
Seven-year charter
The 5,500-teu Zim Danube arrived from HJ Shipbuilding & Construction in the third quarter, for a seven-year charter to Israeli line Zim.
The post-panamax is one of three methanol-fuelled container vessels owned by Ocean Yield that is delivering from South Korea this year.
Asked about any risk over charter payments, Rode told an earnings call: “We don’t have a habit of commenting on individual counterparties as such.”
“But what we can say is, generally for the liner companies, they’re all coming into this market downturn with very strong cash and liquidity positions. And this is also the case for Zim,” he said.
