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ICS reappoints Esben Poulsson as chairman for new two-year term

Photo: ICS Esben-photo.jpg
Esben Poulsson
The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has reappointed Esben Poulsson as its chairman for a further two-year term.

Poulsson assumed office in 2016, overseeing ICS’s engagement with international bodies, national governments, and industry organisations on the key issues impacting international shipping.

“I am very honoured to have been appointed by the board of ICS for a further two-year term. The Covid-19 pandemic means 2020 is a year that will long be remembered, and this is certainly true for shipping. As countries shut down borders and impose travel restrictions, the role of the sector in facilitating trade and the maintenance and improvement of global living standards has never been more important,” Poulsson commented.

Poulsson has always been at the forefront of the ongoing crew change crisis. Since the start of the pandemic, ICS has made every effort to facilitate the repatriation of seafarers trapped onboard vessels due to Covid-19 related restrictions on travel and movement.

“It is difficult to exaggerate the challenges facing ship operators this year, in particular with respect to the health and welfare of ships’ crews, many of whom, even under normal circumstances, work thousands of miles away from their families for many months at a time. We have and will work to facilitate the safe changeovers of these key workers, but so far, the inaction of national governments has only exacerbated the crisis,” Poulsson said.

“Nonetheless, from the reduction of the industry’s carbon emissions to resolving piracy issues, the everyday work of ICS continues. I am most grateful for the support I receive from the ICS board, our expert committees and our dedicated secretariat, led by ICS’s indefatigable secretary general, Guy Platten,” Poulsson said.

In the past year under Poulsson’s leadership, ICS submitted, along with other industry partners, a radical proposal to IMO for the establishment of a $5bn global R&D fund to accelerate the R&D of zero-carbon technologies.

The ICS has also appointed Gerardo Borromeo from the Philippines as vice chair in succession to Mark Martecchini from Liberia.

TAGS: Europe ICS