Shipbroking group SSY has bolstered its activities in the subsea space by hiring a well-known name from rival Fearnleys.
Martin Hestnes will join SSY in Dubai as manager of offshore, subsea and projects on 1 September, working alongside the group’s head of offshore, Frank Holck.
Hestnes was previously managing partner and board member of Fearnley Offshore Supply, where he worked for nine years.
Before that, he was head of offshore at Gibson Shipbrokers in London. He began his career at shipowner Boa Offshore.
Hestnes will be tasked with expanding SSY’s presence within the subsea business to round out the offering to clients in offshore oil and gas and renewables.
“The offshore market is vastly diverse and continues to provide new challenges and new opportunities — that’s what makes the job so interesting and has kept me engaged and excited for almost 18 years,” Hestnes said.
SSY managing partner Stanko Jekov said he was proud of the offshore team’s progress within the sector, which has seen “transformative change” over the past 18 months.
“Of course, there is still much more we want to achieve within this exciting and dynamic market and to do that, you need the right talent and expertise,” he commented.
“Martin has both these qualities in abundance and comes to SSY with a proven track record. I look forward to welcoming him to the team in September.”
Jekov has said previously that becoming a major global player in offshore is a key strategic objective for SSY, which describes itself as the world’s largest independent shipbroker.
Entry point
SSY entered the market in February last year when it bought well-known Norwegian shop Westshore Shipbrokers, which added four brokers in Kristiansand and Singapore.
This was followed by the acquisition of German specialist F3O Offshore Services a year ago, which added three brokers in Hamburg and another three in Dubai.
The new hire continues SSY’s ambitious expansion plan, which has played out through new hires and service offerings since Jekov took the top job in January 2023.
This year to date, SSY has expanded its ship finance offering in Asia with hires of well-known names including former banker Ali Susanto in Singapore and Terry Chen in Shanghai.
Derivatives have also been a focus area this year. In April, Phoebus Kaloudis joined as head of business development for SSY Futures.
The group has also been on a mission to build up its Japan presence with a focus on project business and last month hired Naoki Tamura to head up a new office in Osaka.
