Shipbroker Morten Muller has beaten internal and external competition to become the new managing director of Norway's Grieg Shipbrokers.
The Bergen-based shop has confirmed the 38-year-old in the role after a period as interim boss following the departure of long-serving head Finn Engelsen on 1 January.
Muller, who holds an executive MBA from Copenhagen Business School, has been with the company since 2006 working within dry cargo chartering, newbuilding and sale and purchase, and most recently the maritime financing division.
Chairman Thomas Christensen said: "On behalf of the board, I am delighted that Morten has accepted the position."
Muller, together with chief financial officer Ivar Sandvig Thorsen, has been part of the interim management team since October last year.
"He has successfully navigated the Covid-19 pandemic and implemented measures to ensure continued development and success," Christensen said. "We are confident the company will be in safe hands and look forward to working closely with him as we continue to grow the company."
Fundamentals looking good
Grieg Shipbrokers has 45 brokers and advisors at offices in Oslo and London.
"I am very happy to accept this role and look forward to being in charge of a team that is delivering the exciting next chapter of Grieg Shipbrokers," Muller said.
"Fundamentals in several of our core markets are looking brighter, and I am fortunate to have highly motivated colleagues striving to provide best-in-class service as our industry adapts to a fast-changing regulatory and commercial environment," he said.
The company, the 137-year-old original core of Grieg Group, has seen great change over the past year.
This began with Engelsen saying he would quit last September and continued with the sale of its Asian dry cargo desks in Shanghai and Singapore to Affinity (Shipping).
Brokers sought
Muller told TradeWinds in April that he was looking for experienced chemical tanker brokers to be based at its Bergen headquarters.
The company has been scouting new sale-and-purchase brokers.
Muller also denied rumours that Grieg Shipbrokers could sell off its London operations.
He is instead moving to integrate Norwegian and London operations more closely.
The expansion into large dry bulk chartering with desks centred on Asia-Pacific charterers was closely associated with Engelsen, who set up the Asian offices in 2017 and staffed them in part with former colleagues from his old shop, Lorentzen & Stemoco.
Sources with knowledge of the company indicated that Engelsen's departure was over a lack of support from Grieg Group for the global strategy.
