Both the CMA CGM Group and Hapag-Lloyd announced North American leadership changes this week.
CMA CGM said Ed Aldridge, president of CMA CGM America and American President Lines (APL), will retire Dec. 6 and be replaced by Peter Levesque, the former president of Ports America Group.
In Wednesday’s announcement, France-headquartered CMA CGM said it was grateful for Aldridge’s “leadership, dedication and the results he has achieved during the last 14 years, as the company has added differentiated ocean services, expanded its logistics capability in North America and significantly grown ocean volumes and market shares.”
American Shipper reported in September 1999 that Aldridge had resigned as senior vice president of North America for Sea-Land Service to become president of APL. He left APL in 2003 to launch and serve as CEO of U.S. Lines, which was acquired by CMA CGM in 2008. CMA CGM acquired APL in 2016. In June 2020, Aldridge became president of CMA CGM North America and APL.
Levesque became president of Ports America, touted as the largest marine terminal operator and stevedore in North America, in February 2020.
Levesque, who left Ports America last year, previously spent 25 years based in Hong Kong and held leadership positions in international transportation, logistics and supply chain companies, including CEO of Modern Terminals Limited, Ceva Logistics and DHL, CMA CGM said.
Sandlin replacing Ostergaard at Hapag-Lloyd
Hapag-Lloyd announced that Uffe Ostergaard, president of the shipping line’s North American region, is leaving the company. Stuart Sandlin, currently the senior vice president of sales for the United States, will assume the president’s position Jan. 1.
Sandlin joined Hapag-Lloyd in 2001 in a sales position in Atlanta and went on to hold several management positions in the United States and Germany, the company said. He left Hapag-Lloyd in 2015 to serve as president of North America for the United Arab Shipping Co. (UASC). Sandlin again became part of Hapag-Lloyd when the German shipping company acquired UASC in 2017.
“With Stuart’s leadership experience and his vast commercial understanding, we will have a strong foundation for managing one of our most traditional key markets but also for further growth in North America,” Hapag-Lloyd Rolf Habben Jansen said in Monday’s announcement.
Ostergaard worked at Maersk for 20 years, serving as group head for global marketing from 1992 to 2012. In 2013, he joined UASC, serving as chief commercial officer until 2017. Following the merger of Hapag-Lloyd and UASC, he became president of the North American region in April 2018.
“Uffe has made an enormous contribution to Hapag-Lloyd,” Habben Jansen said. “We thank him for his passionate work for our company — not least for completing the consolidation of our USA-based operations in Atlanta. We wish him the very best and lots of success in his new role.”
The announcement did not name that new position, only saying that Ostergaard “will take over another management position outside of Hapag-Lloyd in the United States.”
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