Wilhelmsen Ship Management (WSM) has poached a decarbonisation guru from Dr Peters as it looks to broaden its offerings in the sector to the shipping industry.
The company said on Wednesday that it had appointed Radoslaw Walczak to the new position with immediate effect. He will be based in WSM's Singapore headquarters.
“Walczak will be spearheading our focus in delivering vessel performance and energy efficiency initiatives to support shipping’s decarbonisation ambition,” the ship manager said.
The industry veteran brings with him more than 20 years of mariner experience including time at sea. Prior to WSM, he was the general manager at DS Tankers in Germany.
Walczak started his career on shore in the marine safety and quality domain with V.Ships and Wallem before joining DS Tanker as safety and quality manager. He then rose to the position of general manager over an 11-year career at the company.
“With Walczak’s accumulated experience, we look forward to enhancing our vessel performance and strengthening our efforts to support ship owners in the decarbonisation era,” WSM chief executive Carl Schou said.
In March this year, WSM’s parent company, Wilhelmsen, re-organised its group portfolio with the aim of “intensifying growth of maritime services and renewable energy and decarbonisation”.
Thomas Wilhelmsen, group chief executive at Wilhelmsen, said at the time that the company wants to “establish a strong growth platform for solutions that will contribute to decarbonising our industry”.
“In the next few decades, the industry will see a tremendous shift from oil and gas to renewable energy,” he said.
“The speed of change and investments needed requires a dedicated focus to capitalise on the opportunities which will arise.
“We will obviously build on our existing competencies, in-depth knowledge of the maritime industry, and what differentiates us from many players in the market, while exploring new opportunities and new partnerships.”
The initiative also saw Wilhelmsen target $500m in new business investments related to the renewable segments over the next five years either on its own, in collaboration with other companies or utilising the capital markets.
Decarbonisation has been described as the “new frontier for ship managers”, with many looking to partner owners in finding alternative fuels and propulsion systems to operate greener ships.
