IMPA Elects Henrik Steffensen as Chairman and CEO

Vice President of Procurement at J. Lauritzen, Henrik Steffensen has been elected as the new Chairman & CEO of the International Marine Purchasing Association (IMPA).

During the association’s Annual General Meeting at this year’s IMPA London, which took place on the 17 and 18 September, Steffensen was officially handed the position by current Chairman & CEO Jan R. Johannessen.

Speaking at the event, he thanked his predecessor for his hard work and dedication whilst at the helm of IMPA.

“It is a privilege to be the new Chairman & CEO of IMPA and to have the opportunity to represent the interests of such a fantastic association. Jan has left IMPA in very good health and it is in that vein that we on the council will continue.”

Henrik Steffensen will bring his many years of skill and experience to the role of Chairman & CEO and has already put together a solid strategy for how he would like IMPA to develop and grow during his tenure.

“IMPA has five pillars that make it very stable and solid – Education, the Marine Stores Guide/B2B, IMPA ACT, IMPA London and Membership – and we have to develop them. In order to do that we have agreed to appoint Vice Presidents for each area – they will each be responsible for that area and its income and expenditure.”

The decision to appoint a Vice President for each of IMPA’s specific areas of work is an important move for the association, allowing it to focus and capitalize on what Steffensen sees as IMPA’s key strengths.

Rob Scharff of Stolt Tankers (Netherlands) is Vice President for Education and Training and Captain Peter Machado of Middle East Fuji (UAE) is VP for the Marine Stores Guide as well as all B2B matters. Thome Ship Management’s Ryan Dalgado (Singapore) meanwhile assumes the role of VP for the internal CSR Ambassador Program and Bård Bjørløw of Wilhelmsen Maritime Services (Norway) has assumed the role of VP for Sales, Marketing and Key Accounts.

Alongside the Vice Presidents, three new IMPA council members were elected during the AGM. Cindy Fan from RMS Marine Service Company (China) was chosen as a member for suppliers, and United Seven’s Jennifer Schlemeier (Germany) and Abhijit Deshmukh from Topaz Marine (UAE) as members for purchasing. The new council round-up will join Henrik Steffensen and Chief Financial Officer Susan Koefoed (Purchase Manager at Dannebrog Rederi AS, Denmark) in driving the association forward.

Speaking about his vision for the future of IMPA, Steffensen said one of his main goals is to dramatically improve the association’s reach.

“I see a lot of possibilities for IMPA progressing if we succeed in telling potential members about all the benefits they will get by joining the association – and we will succeed, as we do offer a great portfolio of useful products for everybody in the industry.”