Shipping magnate Paul Soros, brother of George, dies in New York at 87
SHIPPING titan and philanthropist Paul Soros - the older brother of billionaire financier George Soros - has died in New York City on 15 June after a long illness. He was 87.

Soros, a Hungarian-born engineer and businessman, founded Soros Associates, a world leader in the design and development of bulk handling and port facilities. The company has operations in 91 countries. Soros also held a number of patents and wrote more than 100 technical articles on the transportation of materials and related shipping design issues, said The Associated Press.

Soros was born Paul Schwartz in Hungary in 1926. His father changed the family name to Soros a decade later, in response to growing anti-Semitism. Growing up, Soros was a talented athlete who skied for the Hungarian national team.

"He was quite a good athlete and very much the gentleman athlete," said Peter Soros, noting his father broke his leg a number of times and lost a kidney in a skiing accident. "He had a competitive spirit."

A memorial service was scheduled for June 27 at the Lincoln Centre.


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Long Beach's chief harbour engineer named caretaker executive director
PORT of Long Beach chief harbour engineer Al Moro has been appointed interim executive director in a short-term caretaker role to replace Chris Lytle, who quit to run the Port of Oakland on San Francisco.

"A major goal will be to provide stability and continuity during the transition. It's important that we continue to move forward with all of our projects," said Mr Moro.

Mr Moro, who joined the port in 1997 as a civil engineer, currently oversees harbour engineering programmes at Long Beach, including nearly US$4 billion in capital improvement projects.

Mr Moro's appointment will take effect following a formal vote on June 17.

"The board is extremely pleased that we have unanimously selected Al Moro as our interim executive director. He is highly respected by all of the commissioners, very well regarded in our industry, and well liked by the port staff. Al will lead the Port of Long Beach on a steady path forward as the search begins for a permanent director," said board president Susan Anderson Wise.


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Tom Behrens-Sorensen appointed to the board of Singapore's NOL
TOM Behrens-Sorensen is joining the NOL group's Board of Directors on July 1 and will serve as a member of both the Executive Resource & Compensation Committee and the Enterprise Risk Management Committee.

A shipping veteran with more than three decades of international experience, Mr Behrens-Sorensen has a distinguished track record as a business first-mover in Europe, Australia and across Asia, particularly, in India and China.

His career included a 30-year tenure at AP Moller-Maersk, where he held several senior leadership roles. Notably, he led the company's successful expansion into China from 1994 through 2009, and built strong relations with key local government officials and industry decision makers.

Said NOL chairman Kwa Chong Seng: "With his illustrious background in business transformations, we believe Tom will contribute significantly to our continuous drive for innovation and efficiency as well as our market initiatives."

Based in Beijing, Mr Behrens-Sorensen is a co-founder of the European Union Chamber of Commerce and of the Danish Chamber of Commerce in China. He has been an advisor to various provincial governments in China and currently serves on the boards of ECCO Holding, Odense Maritime Technology, Red Sea Gateway Terminal and the China Merchants LOSCAM Asia.


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BIFA names new chairman, reshuffles board members and their roles
THE British International Freight Association (BIFA) is to appoint Carson McCullan as its new national chairman to succeed Steve Parker while Fred Osborn becomes vice chairman.

Since 1996, Mr McCullan has been managing director of All-Route Shipping (NI) Ltd, which recently became part of the Woodside Group. He has been BIFA's vice chairman for the past two years and will be replaced by Mr Osborn, past co-owner of X-Pand International Freight Ltd since 2000.

Mr McCullan has extensive experience on BIFA's board since 2011 when he held the chair of its Air Policy group.

Peter Bottomley, MP, has also agreed to extend his term as BIFA president.

John Stubbings, group director and company secretary of the Woodland Group, has been elected to serve on the BIFA board. John is currently chairman of BIFA's Legal and Insurance Policy Group.

BIFA director general Peter Quantrill thanked Mr Parker for his two-year tenure as chairman but welcomed the new roles taken by Mr McCullan, Mr Osborn and Mr Stubbings, which bring to the new roles a range of external interests and "very wide experience at the 'coal face' running freight forwarding businesses".

Mr Quantrill welcomed the news of Sir Peter's decision to extend his time in office: "BIFA benefits from his political acumen and significant experience of the legislative process across the parliamentary spectrum.

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Ron Widdows takes his place in International Maritime Hall of Fame
RONALD (Ron) Widdows, CEO of Rickmers Group and Rickmers-Linie, has been inducted into the International Maritime Hall of Fame in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the global maritime industry.

"I am truly honoured to be selected for this prestigious award and am delighted to accept," said Mr Widdows. "It has been a privilege to be involved in such an interesting and dynamic industry and to work with so many fine colleagues over the years."

Mr Widdows was one of six awarded the honour in a ceremony in New York. Other inductees included Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller, former chairman of AP Moller-Maersk (posthumous award) and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The board of the Maritime Association of the Port of New York & New Jersey created the awards, now in their 20th year, "to honour those maritime visionaries who, through excellence in their company, organisation or services, best exemplify the qualities of futuristic thinking that will guide our industry in the 21st century."

Mr Widdows, who joined Rickmers in February 2012, is a former CEO of Singapore's NOL/APL and has more than 40 years' experience in the shipping industry. He is currently the chairman of the World Shipping Council, which is based in Washington DC, and is on the Advisory Boards of the US Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, NY, and the International Transport Forum, based in Europe. He is a past chairman of the Transpacific Stabilisation Agreement.

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