KNUD E. HANSEN announces new Managing Director

Denmark-based maritime consultancy KNUD E. HANSEN has announced changes to its senior management structure with Javier Suárez (pictured) succeeding Finn Wollesen Petersen as Managing Director.

The move to the new management structure is part of a planned process that has been taking place over the past months. During this time, Javier and Finn have worked very closely together in order to facilitate a smooth transition. Finn, who has held the role of Managing Director at KNUD E. HANSEN since 2003, will remain with the company, his focus now on coordinating the company’s operations in the United States.

Spanish national Javier joined KNUD E. HANSEN in 2017 as Director Operations. His maritime career began in 1995 when he graduated with an MSc in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. Following this, he has enjoyed diverse roles, including at the Astilleros de Huelva Shipyard, where he worked for over a decade in commercial and technical roles. Following this, he undertook commercial and senior management roles with Voith Schneider, including Vice President Marine Americas for Voith Turbo.

Finn began his maritime career sailing aboard reefer and polar vessels before undertaking his education in mechanical engineering at Århus Teknikum. He joined KNUD E. HANSEN as Managing Director in 2003. Since that time, the company has designed vessels and conversions for almost every sector of the maritime industry, gaining awards and global recognition along the way.

The two colleagues have a long history of collaboration. One of Finn’s first projects at KNUD E. HANSEN was the design of a series of small RoRo vessels operating in the Irish Sea for Seatruck. The vessels were constructed at the Astilleros de Huelva yard, where Javier was Commercial Director at the time.

Javier said: “I would like to offer my sincere gratitude to Finn for his hard work at KNUD E. HANSEN these past 22 years. He has successfully grown the company into an international organisation with a strong reputation. When Finn took on the role of Managing Director, we were a small business with one office in Copenhagen and around 20 employees. Today, we are an international operation with offices in Denmark, the Faroe Islands, United Kingdom, Spain, the USA and Australia, and over 100 employees.

“My role now is to continue this work, keeping KNUD E. HANSEN close to its clients around the world and maintaining our focus on the many maritime sectors we serve, including the passenger and offshore wind segments where we have enjoyed so many successes in recent years.”