SPINNAKER are delighted to have placed former BP and Glencore man Mike Powell as global head of operations at Maersk Tankers.
A former seafarer and qualified solicitor, Powell previously served as head of Glencore’s global tanker operation and he also held a position as global operations manager at oil major BP. He was also the first Director of the UK Government Confidential Hazardous Incident Reporting Programme. After leaving Glencore he was much in demand after forming his own consultancy in 2011 but was persuaded to join Maersk by the quality of its management team and the company’s commitment to quality processes and operations. He will report to chief commercial officer Klaus Rud Sejling as part of the company’s commercial management team.
Mike’s is the epitome of the varied career path that a career at sea can lead to. We first came across him when we was an admiralty lawyer at law firm Stephenson Harwood and we knew him to be highly regarded by other law firms who were keen to hire him. Prior to that he was a tanker captain and vetting inspector
Mike wins the record for the number of times placed by Spinnaker; the ups and downs of mergers and market cycles in shipping have dragged Mike, as they have many, away from jobs he much enjoyed. Over a particularly fine rib-eye steak one day last week, we made sure that Capt Powell has a nice warm hat for his new life in Copenhagen and he made sure we paid the bill! Quite right too (on this occasion).
