This change comes as the company reorganises its Commercial function to take the next step in its tranformation into a fully-fledged service company that delivers shipping solutions to its partners.

In this set-up, Kristian will lead Maersk Tankers’ global Chartering team – which is responsible for the delivery of the company’s core product to pool partners, spot trading. His wealth of industry experience and market insight, as well as the strong relationships he has built up over the years, are what the role requires: “We will sharpen our focus on the services and solutions we provide to our pool partners even further.”

Prior to taking on the new role, Kristian served as Segment Head for Maersk Tankers’ LR2, Aframax and City pools, responsible for the Chartering desks in Singapore, and spearheading strategy and tactics at the three pools. Under Kristian’s leadership, his team has been part of the company’s move to use more data and algorithms to predict future freight rates to optimise vessel positioning. They were also the first to test and later implement the pioneering digital solution SimTanker to further strengthen the data-driven approach to chartering.

For his new role, Kristian is moving back to Denmark from his home of the past decade, Singapore. He admits to “mixed feelings” about leaving Asia but is looking forward to re-discovering the Scandinavian lifestyle, watching football matches with his son, cycling to work and sailing, a life-long passion. “I first sailed with my parents when I was five. As a child I always wanted to work with shipping, although back then I imagined being on board a ship, not in the office,” he says.

“Professionally too, it’s going to be a huge change, but I like the change and I am energised by it.”

Ahead of him is a transformation that will be underpinned by a new “agile” way of working – well-known in other service industries, but an innovative move in shipping that describes a flat working structure composed of empowered teams.

“It has not been done before, but I am a firm believer that agile working can be applied successfully to the shipping industry,” he says. “It is about empowering our employees and leveraging their skills to create the best results for our pool partners.”

“Agile working has a business purpose, but it will be a great new way of working for our employees too. It will offer them constant opportunities to learn and grow, and greater flexibility at work,” he says.

As he settles into his new job, Kristian’s enthusiasm is undimmed: “What I’m most excited about is that our new structure and way of working will allow us to bring out the best in our people and attract new talent from outside the industry – and importantly, it will benefit our partners.”