Page 80 - Next Generation 2015 - Digtial Issue

Next Generation On our radar
After brief spells at American Eagle Tankers and PKF
Dubai, he joined the family group full-time in January 2010.
Today he oversees the financial, commercial, operational and
administrative departments of the company and is a board
member on a number of the group’s subsidiaries.
Singapore Giles Fearn
GILES Fearn may now be group chief executive at Petredec,
but it took him the best part of 14 years to get there. The son of
Charles Fearn, one of the Singapore’s company’s joint owners,
Giles joined Petredec in 1996 to trade pressurised LPG in Europe.
In 1998, he was appointed risk manager and, in 2001, he
was transferred to the refrigerated trading division covering the
North Sea and the Mediterranean.
He relocated to Singapore in 2003 as Eastern trading
manager and was promoted to global trading manager in 2008,
before finally securing the top job in 2010.
Singapore Eduardo de Mello Franco
IT’S no accident that Vale’s marketing manager for iron ore,
Eduardo de Mello Franco, is working in Singapore alongside the
shipping team.
Vale’s fleet of very large ore carriers, built so the world’s
largest iron ore miner can better manage its freight logistics
costs, sit at the core of its sales strategy and are cutting crucial he says. He firmly believes that industry experts should be
spot market business for the global capesize fleet.
Vale established its shipping team in Singapore several
years ago, and as Vale seeks to shift iron ore sales contracts to a
delivered basis, from the free-on-board model favoured before
2008, Mr de Mello is researching and analysing market trends,
and benchmarking Vale’s performance, including shipping,
against industry competitors.
His resumé suggests he would be an excellent candidate
to replace executive director of ferrous and strategy, Jose Carlos
Martins, when he eventually retires.
South Africa Bongiwe Ntuli
HER name came up again and again during Lloyd’s List’s next
generation research. According to a Grindrod spokesperson,
36-year-old Bongiwe Ntuli is honoured that we believe she is
a rising star but doesn’t think she deserves the attention. We
beg to differ.
Since joining Grindrod, which is probably one of the African
continent’s best-known shipping names, in 2008, Ms Nutli has
been a finance director at Grindrod Freight Services and has held
board seats at Grindrod Bank and Grindrod Holdings.
The qualified chartered accountant is currently chief
executive of port, terminals and rail at Grindrod Ltd.
Prior to joining Grindrod, Ms Ntuli spent several years
Anglo-American plc in various countries including the UK,
Europe, Canada and South Africa, in various finance disciplines,
including treasury, risk management and internal audit.
78 | Lloyd’s List Next Generation 2015 | www.lloydslist.com
Nigeria Emmanuel Umoroi
MANY would consider Nigeria to be among the more hostile
locations to start your own shipping company, but that is exactly
what 39-year-old Emmanuel Umoro did after meeting a broker
who was on a mission to dispose of some tankers in 2013.
The Great Nigeria Tanker Co may only own two tankers of
6,500 dwt and 5,500 dwt respectively, but it is making waves.
A source — who asked to remain anonymous, but has
much gravitas, having held top positions at various John
Fredriksen entities — had this to say about Mr Umoro. “Given
the lack of refining capacity in Nigeria and the shallow draughts
in some of its ports, the lightering and coastal distribution of
clean products is a vital job played by the coastal tanker fleet.
“Emmanuel Umoro is the dynamic commercial director of
Great Nigeria Tankers, working in the high-pressured coastal
trade spot market in Nigeria. He has ambitions to expand the
fleet under his control and is a young shipping professional
on the move.”
Mr Umoro himself is forthright about the challenges that the
Great Nigeria Shipping Co has faced in getting off the ground,
from layers of bureaucracy to difficulties in raising capital.
“In Nigeria, the shipping industry is managed by political
gladiators who use the position to gratify their own loyalties,”
appointed to manage the industry.
Nigeria Humphrey Nchom
LIKE many maritime professionals, Humphrey Nchom has
enhanced his skillset by spending time at sea. With a BSc
in his back pocket, he holds a Class 1 Marine Engineer
(Unlimited) certificate from Singapore and has has served as
a chief engineer on vessels owned by Seacor, Seatrucks and
Dredging International, to name a few.
Since 2007, he has been the country manager in Nigeria
for RK Offshore Management, an OSV operator with 20 vessels
on the West African coast.
There is no doubting that Mr Nchom has enjoyed a solid
maritime career but that is usually not enough to secure
someone an entry in this list. So why has this “well-respected
professional in the vibrant Nigerian market” been included?
Those in the know suggest Mr Nchom may be destined
for a key maritime position, given the political changes under
way in Nigeria. Lloyd’s List may be calling this too soon,
but when asked for his views on the priority issues for those
charged with looking after Nigeria’s maritime sector, Mr
Nchom’s well-constructed answer was rather statesman-like.
“The maritime sector must have the right and experienced
professionals to pilot its affairs and not having square pegs
in round holes. For us to grow beyond where we are now, we
must respect professionalism and there must be political will to
implement good policies to attract investors to the sector.”
Watch this space…