Gulf Navigation appoints new board as it seeks business turnaround

New chairman says it assumes responsibility at 'an exceptional time' for the industry

Gulf Navigation said on Sunday that it had appointed a new board. Courtesy Gulf Navigation

Gulf Navigation, a Dubai-listed maritime and shipping company, appointed a new board as it looks to turn its business around amid tough market conditions exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The company also announced the appointment of Rudrik Flikweert as group chief financial officer in a filing to the Dubai Financial Market, where its shares trade, on Sunday.

The company said it had attained shareholder approval for the new board, which is led by Sheikh Theyab bin Tahnoon, and includes new members Abdulla Atatreh, Mohamed Alhammadi, Abdulaziz Alongary and Waleed Mohammad.

The new directors joined Abdul Rahman Al Afifi and Ahmad Kilani, who were already on the board.

“We assume this responsibility at an exceptional time with totally different rules for doing business than what the world was used to before Covid-19,” group chairman Sheikh Theyab said.

“There is still strong demand for shipping services around the world and we are very optimistic about the promising opportunities the future holds.”

The Covid-19 pandemic upended global trade and disrupted supply chains in the first half of the year, tipping the world economy into its worst recession since the Great Depression, according to the International Monetary Fund.

The global economy is expected to shrink by 4.9 per cent this year, the IMF said in June.

Global trade is expected to decline by 27 per cent in the second quarter of 2020, compared with the previous three months, according to data by the UN Conference on Trade and Development.

However, there are signs of a recovery, the World Bank's director for trade, investment and competitiveness Caroline Freund said on Saturday.

Trade was returning to normal, Ms Freund said as she cited data from the global shipping industry from mid-August.

Gulf Navigation operates a fleet of eight vessels including petrochemical tankers, livestock transport ships and marine support vessels, which the company said will allow it to service different markets.

It reported a loss of Dh324.9m for 2019, up from Dh40m a year ago, as operating costs increased and the carrying value of some of its vessels was written down.