Rene Kofod-Olsen is wasting no time in plotting the future of V.Group.
That, after all, he said, is the reason he was appointed chief executive of the leading ship-management and marine-services group.
“I’m looking the next three to five years in the future and ensuring that we have the right strategies, the right value proposition that clients have come to know from us,” he said.
“But also have the right approach to the future — because it’s a very transforming industry.”
The experienced Danish shipping executive took over the reins on 1 November last year, becoming the company’s third chief executive in as many years.
Like his predecessor Graham Westgarth, who remains chairman at V. Group, he has more than 30 years of experience in the shipping industry. Westgarth was brought in to steady the ship after the departure of Ian El-Mokadem as chief executive in 2019.
Kofod-Olsen described the job as a “humbling challenge to take on”.
His background appealed to private equity group Advent International, which became the owner of V.Group in March 2017.
V.Group
Chief executive
November 2020-present
BW Offshore
Non-executive director
May 2019-present
P&O Maritime Logistics
Chief executive
September 2019-March 2020
Topaz Energy & Marine
Chief executive
August 2012-September 2019
AP Moller-Maersk
Multiple roles, including chief executive of Svitzer for Asia, Middle East & Africa
October 1996-August 2012
“The idea was always to find a CEO who could take the company forward,” Kofod-Olsen said.
“Advent has been very clear in what it wanted to achieve and how they wanted to look at the longer sustainable growth the company has to embark on now. They have taken the time to find the team they felt could bring this team into the future.”
Kofod-Olsen joined from Topaz Energy & Marine, where he was chief executive from 2012 until the company was sold to DP World in 2019.
Before that, he worked in various roles for AP Moller-Maersk, where he held executive positions in numerous countries, including as chief executive of Svitzer for Asia, Middle East and Africa.
He stepped down from Topaz after completing the integration process in 2020, including raising funds from the international bond market and preparing the company for a potential initial public offering in London.
His move to assemble “the right executive leadership” involves wider managerial changes.
In January this year, V.Group appointed Bjoern Sprotte, formerly chief executive of OSM Maritime Group, to lead its ship-management division in Hamburg, while his predecessor, Franck Kayser, moves back to Denmark with the company.
In recent years, V. Group has been talked about as a possible listing candidate, but Kofod-Olsen has played down the likelihood of that happening any time soon.
“I don’t think a corporate project is on my everyday agenda right now,” he said.
“We have a company to run. We have formidable shareholders. And we now need to ensure that every single living moment of the day we make a difference that matters to our clients.”
He said Advent is looking for "optionality" in a chief executive.
“Now they have options,” he said. “I certainly have experience dealing with public markets, but I also have experience of a lot of M&A [merger and acquisitions] and transforming companies.”
Digitalisation is another area he believes will play a huge role.
“That’s really the future of our company — having a platform where our clients can focus on their strategies — and we can focus on everything that makes the boat go faster,” he told TradeWinds.
Terabytes of data
“We are running more than 600 vessels and crewing more than 900 vessels, so we have terabytes of data we can make available to also develop strategies around sustainability.
“It’s the interpretation of that data; it’s almost weaponising that data in doing good, in being more efficient at procurement, maintenance, route management and fuel efficiency.
“We have it and we need to extract it and build strategies around our clients. To me, data is a big part of our future strategy. Not just talking about big data. Using it.”
He expects clients to demand more from ship managers, but believes they should be prepared to pay as V.Group strives to be best in class.
“It is a dangerous path to go when any industry becomes a commodity. Parts of the industry are commodities, but we shouldn’t play in those areas.”
However, he said the ship manager can play a bigger role in decarbonisation, environment, social and governance issues, and helping seafarers.
“We at V.Group, like the other big shipping companies, really have a role to play here. We must be better at educating the world at how much of a bedrock shipping is in global trade.”
