Lars Christiansen appointed Hapag-Lloyd's new MD in Asia

Lars Christiansen (pictured above) is Hapag-Lloyd’s new senior managing director of the Asia region, following last month’s promotion of Joachim Schlotfeldt to chief personnel and global procurement officer.

Mr Christiansen had a 20-year career with Maersk, holding various management positions in Denmark, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, before joining UASC in 2006 where he eventually became chief trade officer in 2012.

Last year he joined Hapag-Lloyd as head of the Middle East region, and today Dheeraj Bhatia (pictured below) was named as his successor as senior managing director in the Middle East.

Mr Bhatia was most recently managing director of India for Hapag-Lloyd.

Before that, he held various management roles at CSAV, for example as the New York-based President of Region North America, Central American and Caribbean Islands beginning in 2013.

Mr Bhatia trained to become both a merchant ship captain and a harbour pilot, and before switching to an onshore position in 2003, he had already spent 12 years in the maritime sector.

“We are very happy that we have been able to fill major key positions in management with two outstanding logistics experts,” said Rolf Habben Jansen, chief executive of Hapag-Lloyd.

“In doing so, we have established a first-class foundation for our additional growth in the Asia and Middle East regions.”