Nils Aden (41) will take over the position of chief executive officer (CEO) for Hamburg-based ship management company E.R. Schiffahrt GmbH & Cie. KG on 1 February 2015. In his new role, he will be responsible for the fleet management, crewing, customer relations, chartering and quality divisions. Nils Aden has been with the E.R. Group for eight years, and for the past two years has been a member of the shipping company’s board, the company said in its press release.
Dr Hermann J. Klein (57), current CEO of E.R. Schiffahrt, will leave the company of his own will after his three-year contract expires. He has been managing director of E.R. Capital Holding and E.R. Schiffahrt since 2012. In his role at E.R. Schiffahrt, he headed the successful merger between ship management companies E.R. Schiffahrt, Komrowski Befrachtungskontor and Blue Star, part of the Komrowski Group, which all became the new Blue Star Holding. ‘Hermann Klein navigated E.R. Schiffahrt through a challenging time and took it in a new direction. With his expertise, strong leadership and dedicated service, he developed and implemented innovative and future-oriented projects. We thank him for his consistently effective effort and many good ideas,’ says Erck Rickmers, founder and owner of E.R. Group. E.R. Schiffahrt was one of the first shipping companies to conduct comprehensive modifications to improve the energy efficiency of its ships.
On 1 January 2015, Isabelle Rickmers (32) will become a new member of the E.R. Schiffahrt board and will take on responsibility for the new business, key account management and purchasing divisions. She has been with E.R. Group since 2010 and currently heads E.R. Schiffahrt’s customer relations division. Frank Bergert (53), E.R. Capital Holding's and the shipping company’s CFO, will retain responsibility for finance in the new three-person board of E.R. Schiffahrt.
Willem Dekker (49), hitherto managing director of E.R. Schiffahrt, moves to E.R. Capital Holding on 1 January 2015. He will assume a variety of cross-departmental functions and strengthen the business development team. The unit will be developing new finance and shipping projects. Dekker reports to Jochen Klösges, CEO of E.R. Capital Holding.