[130515.EN.SEA] Van Trooijen Takes Over From Tim Smith as Maersk North Asia CEO

DENMARK's Maersk Line has announced that Dutchman Robbert Van Trooijen will take over his new role as chief executive for North Asia from July 1 and be based in Hong Kong.

Mr Van Trooijen replaces Tim Smith who has been appointed the chairman of Maersk China Ltd and the chief representative of the Maersk group in North Asia, a company statement said.

"North Asia is a critically important market for Maersk Line, accounting for around 40 per cent of Maersk Line's global export volumes and we continue to see new opportunities in the market which I will be looking forward to explore," said Mr Van Trooijen.

He joined the Danish shipping giant in 2006 after spending his first 15 years in shipping with Anglo-Dutch ocean liner P&O Nedlloyd in various management positions based in Hong Kong and South Korea. Prior to assuming the role of CEO for Latin America in 2011, he led the West and Central Asia region for three years.

Maersk is represented in 44 locations in the North Asia region with 1,800 employees.

Source : HKSG.