Unifeeder CEO and DP World marine COO Jesper Kristensen quits

Jesper Kristensen, chief executive of DP World-owned Unifeeder and chief operations officer of DP World’s Marine Services unit, has resigned.

In a LinkedIn post yesterday, Mr Kristensen wrote that he had “requested to be relieved from my duties”.

He added: “Having served with Unifeeder for 34 years, the last 17 as group CEO, I will have my last Unifeeder working day this week.

“It has, however, been agreed with DP World, that I will stay onboard for various P&O Ferries, P&O Ferrymasters and P&O Marime Logistics tasks for a number of months.”

Unifeeder said Mr Kristensen would be replaced by Europe CEO Martin Gaard Christiansen and Indian subcontinent CEO Ganesh Raj.

“Martin Gaard Christiansen will assume the role of CEO at Unifeeder A/S, responsible for the business in Europe, Americas and West/North Africa, while Ganesh Raj will be CEO for Unifeeder FZCO, responsible for the business in Asia, Middle East and Eastern/Southern parts of Africa.

“We are grateful for the invaluable contribution, incomparable dedication, energy and true Unifeeder DNA Jesper has brought to the company.

“At the same time, we look forward to continuing the Unifeeder journey with Martin and Ganesh,” the company added.

Mr Kristensen was the architect of the transformation of Unifeeder from a relatively small common feeder operator in Northern Europe and the Baltic into a genuinely global carrier.

According to Alphaliner, it now the 18th-largest carrier in the world, operating 89 charted ships for a total capacity of 143,000 teu, while six new eco-vessels, on order with long-term shipowner partner MPC, will see it add another 11,000 teu, which could push it further up the rankings.

During his tenure Mr Kristensen has seen ownership of the company change four times, the last seeing its private equity owner sell Unifeeder to DP World for $762.4m in 2018, part of the Dubai firm’s integrated logistics consolidation strategy, which continues to this day.

As part of this deal, Mr Kristensen was also hired to work in Dubai to oversee DP World’s entire maritime business lines, a position that was not without controversary after it became clear he was the driving force behind its decision to sack 800-plus UK seafarers working for P&O Ferries, and replace them with lower-wage workers – an episode explored in granular detail in this Loadstar Premium post.