Stolt Tankers managing director Maren Schroeder has been elected president and chairwoman of the European International Shipowners’ Association of Portugal (EISAP) to lead a new all-women team.
Schroeder, who follows former EISAP president Robert Lorenz-Meyer who held the position from 2016 to 2023, said she hoped to continue an improving flag environment for Portugal that has seen the country’s fleet climb to the fourth largest in the European Union.
More than 800 merchant vessels are registered with the International Shipping Register of Madeira, which she said was a good basis for future growth in quantity and quality.
Alluding to operational challenges to shipping in the coming years she said of the transition climate neutrality: “We should aim to reach target-oriented solutions, keeping European shipping globally competitive.”
EISAP is now represented in Portugal and in Europe by a team of young professional women from the maritime transport industry, and Schroeder added: “I am looking forward to having a more diverse shipping sector, allowing different perspectives and having the opportunity to come up with new solutions.”
Sofia Pereira, a graduate in International Trade and Economic Relations at ISCAC, Coimbra, Portugal, was elected as secretary general of EISAP, succeeding Nuno Mendao.
The new vice president of the EISAP board is Laura Langh-Lagerlof, managing director and co-owner of the Finnish family-driven Langh Group and Langh Ship. She is also commercial director of scrubber manufacturer Langh Tech.
And the new president of the EISAP fiscal council is Nektaria Retsou, general manager at Hellas Confidence, a Van-Weelde-Group company, based in Piraeus, Greece.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in maritime studies from the University of Piraeus and has held safety positions at, among others, Cyprus Sea Lines, Atlas Maritime and Hellas Marine Services.
Schroeder is a 2004 graduate in marine engineering and naval architecture of the University of Rostock and holds an executive MBA from the WHU/Kellogg School of Management. She has held positions at, among others, Vroon Group, Exmar, Euronav and Germanischer Lloyd in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.
