Frank Coles Appointed CEO of Wallem Group
Wallem Group has appointed Frank Coles as its new Chief Executive Officer. Coles will replace outgoing CEO, Simon Doughty, who announced his decision to step down earlier this year. The handover will take place at the end of October.
“The opportunity to lead and help grow a prestigious and diversified company like Wallem was something I could not pass up,” said Coles. “With the increased industry focus on efficiency, safety and the environment, providing quality shipping services, crews and technical support is going to be critical. Wallem understands the needs and expectations of owners and clients and is well placed to be a leader in the future of maritime operations support.”
Wallem Group is a leading international provider of quality maritime solutions with over 110 years of industry expertise and a focus on safety and operational efficiency. Services include ship management and technical services, crewing, ship agency and commercial management of a wide range of vessels. In-house services include newbuilding supervision, drydock support (particularly in China), lifeboat maintenance and repair and marine procurement. Wallem Group is headquartered Hong Kong and has major service hubs in the key maritime markets of Hamburg, Shanghai and Singapore. The group has ship agency offices, crew training centres and technical support operations that span 17 countries and 46 locations around the world.
About Frank Coles
Coles began his maritime career at sea working up the ranks from deck officer to Master Mariner. He then studied law at Cardiff University and went on to specialize in maritime law at Richards Butler in London before moving to Hong Kong to work for Stephen Harwood & Lo.
In 1995, Coles left the law to join Pacific Basin, a dry bulk shipper as Operations Director for 50 ships. He then moved to the communications side of the industry, becoming CEO of Rydex when PB invested in this leading company to introduce specialist email software for maritime communications. Coles continued his career in the maritime communications field holding roles at Sperry Marine, and Globe Wireless LLC.
In 2011, Coles joined Inmarsat as the Director GX Maritime and was appointed President that same year of the newly-formed Inmarsat maritime business unit. In 2015, Coles joined Transas as CEO and member of the Board of Directors and was appointed President of Transas Group in May 2018 after Transas was acquired by Wärtsilä.