[100611.EN.SEA] APL President Eng Aik Meng Resigns, North Asia Chief Ken Glenn Succeeds

SINGAPORE-based NOL Group has announced the resignation of Eng Aik Meng as president of its APL container shipping business to be effective September 1, and the current North Asia president Kenneth Glenn will succeed him.

"We understand Aik Meng's desire to begin a new phase in his career, and we thank him for his contributions to NOL," said Group CEO Ronald Widdows, who himself retires at the end of the year.

"At the same time, we are excited to put APL under the direction of a veteran leader who has a very broad background in geographic and trade management and deep commercial skills developed over 32 years, the last 10 with NOL and APL," said Mr Widdows.

Mr Widdows' successor, NOL executive director Ng Yat Chung, said: "Every position Ken has held in this company has prepared him to lead APL, and we are pleased that we can turn to a skilled, veteran leader inside NOL Group to complete a very quick and seamless transition in this critical role."

Mr Glenn, joining APL in 2000, is a 32-year industry veteran, who served as the senior vice president for APL's Asia-Europe trade from 2000 to 2005, and as its top executive in India responsible for kick-start the country's first private freight-rail business, IndiaLinx, in 2007. Since January 2009, he has been north Asia president.

Before joining APL, he worked for Sea-Land Corporation for 21 years in several senior management positions including vice president of the Asia-Europe and Atlantic business as well as vice president and general manager for operations in the former Soviet Union.

Mr Glenn and Mr Eng will start their transition in the next few weeks.

This resignation follows that of 29-year veteran Bob Sappio, head of the company's PanAmerican Trades, who will leave the company August 1 to remain in the San Francisco Bay Area after the carrier moved its Americas headquarters to Phoenix, Arizona.

Mr Sappio will be replaced in the transpacific by 22-year APL veteran Steve Schollaert, APL's executive vice president of intermodal strategy and former head of its Asia-Europe trade. Mr Schollaert, who has a background in operations and was also responsible for APL's terminals, will be based in Phoenix. He will report to liner trade management senior vice president Dave Appleton.

Source : HKSG.