Safmarine names new CEO, launches Android e-shipping application

South African-born Daly, currently Safmarine's Head of MPV (Multi-Purpose Vessel) unit, replacesTomas Dyrbye, who has been Safmarine's CEO for the past two and a half years. Daly joined Safmarine 17 years ago after graduating from the University of Stellenbosch with a Bachelor of Economics degree.

The appointment of a new Safmarine CEO follows the announcement in October 2011 of the Maersk Liner Business' intention to integrate the corporate and regional management activities of Safmarine into those of the Maersk Line, whilst retaining and growing a separate Safmarine brand and operating model.

Safmarine will continue to have its own independent pricing, capacity, sales and customer services structure, supported by more than 1,400 Safmariners located in 130 countries around the world.

As new CEO, Daly will be based at the new Safmarine headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark where he will report to Hanne B Sørensen, Maersk Line's Chief Commercial Officer.

"For close on two decades I have been fortunate to enjoy a varied, exciting and immensely fulfilling career with Safmarine and it's an honour to take the helm as chief custodian of the Safmarine brand," says Daly. "My immediate priority is to establish the Safmarine Centre team in Copenhagen and to ensure we provide Safmariners in the countries with the support they need to deliver on our Safmarine promise to customers."

He said he was looking forward to meeting and working with Safmariners and customers in the months ahead.

Hanne B Sørensen said that the challenge of making brand segmentation work without a separate management structure is a new one in the shipping industry. "We are delighted that Grant has accepted this challenge. We know he has the necessary Safmarine experience, skills and knowledge to build and grow a resilient and highly respected brand.

"We strongly believe that our multi-brand strategy, which will allow us to serve several and more customer segments with different products, is the path to a prosperous future for the Maersk Liner Business and we are committed to providing Grant and his new team with the support they need to grow the Safmarine brand info the future."

Meanwhile, the release of a new Safmarine shipping application for all mobile devices using the Android operating system will allow Safmarine customers to access and download essential shipping information from these devices, anywhere and at any time of day. The launch of this application follows the release, in April 2011, of a similar e-Business application for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices.

According to Benoît Lebrun, Safmarine's Global e-Business Manager, "This new application once again demonstrates Safmarine's leadership in providing innovative business solutions to the shipping industry.

"Android has become an increasingly popular platform for many of the mobile devices used by our customers and the launch of this new application will further improve our customers' access and experience with Safmarine by making it even easier for our customers to do business with us, no matter where they are."

The new application allows Safmarine customers to look up sailing schedules, track containers or consignments (using a booking or container number), find contact details for Safmarine offices and receive Safmarine news updates. An 'alert' option has also been added, which 'pushes' the information directly to the users' device.

The Safmarine Android application can be downloaded free of charge from the Android Market (https://market.android.com/search?q=safmarine&c=apps).

Mr Lebrun said Safmarine has also noted increased usage of its mobile website, http://m.safmarine.com, which can be easily accessed from any mobile device. "The increased use of this site reconfirms the growing popularity of mobile devices in the shipping business."