Elisabeth Grieg will take over as new chair of the board of the Norwegian ferry and express boat company Norled AS. Grieg represents extensive experience from the maritime industry and will strengthen the company's strategic leadership in a phase of strong growth and significant investments in new environmental technology.
Elisabeth Grieg is a recognized business leader in the maritime sector and has a strong commitment to sustainable business development and the fight against climate change.
In addition to her many board positions in the Grieg group, she sits on a number of external boards such as London Business School, SOS Children's Villages Norway and REV Ocean AS. Elisabeth Grieg has also been President of the Norwegian Shipowners' Association.
- We are very pleased that Elisabeth Grieg has agreed to become chair of the board of Norled. Her solid national and international leadership skills with a clear voice within the green shift in the maritime industry will be important to Norled during the investment phase that the company is currently in, says Norled's acting chair of the board Torborg Chetkovich.
Torborg Chetkovich is partner in CapMan Infra, and has been acting chair of the board since the Nordic infrastructure fund CapMan Infra and the Canadian company CBRE Caledon bought Norled earlier this year.
Norled is one of Norway's largest ferry companies and the world's fifth largest express boat company with historic roots back to 1855. The company has 80 vessels and about 1200 employees.
- Norled will be further developed, and with Elisabeth Grieg's professional weight in both shipping and sustainability, we look forward to continued positive development with good travel experiences for our passengers, and good cooperation with clients and other stakeholders, Chetkovich said.
In 2015, Norled introduced the first electric ferry MF «Ampere», which has been the precursor to the significant number of electric zero-emission ferries in Norway. Innovation in green and more environmentally friendly technology is central to Norled. Today, the company is working on both developing the world's first hydrogen ferry for cars, while participating in a collaborative project to develop the world's first hydrogen express boat. The use of hydrogen as fuel allows vessels to sail emission-free over longer distances than the electrically powered vessels can today.
- Norled is actively working to develop new climate solutions for ferries and speedboats. The battery ferry Ampere is proof of that, and the work to develop the world's first hydrogen ferry another. Elisabeth Grieg has shown a great environmental commitment, and with her as chair of the board, we hope Norled maintain its leading position in zero-emission solutions, says partner and representative of CBRE Caledon Capital Management Andreas Köttering.
- I consider Norled to be a very central maritime company with strong shipping traditions and skilled employees who have succeeded, and wishes to succeed, in the drive to bring climate solutions to sea, says Elisabeth Grieg.
She adds that the Norwegian maritime industry is particularly well equipped to take an active and defining position within green shipping solutions.
- We must take advantage of the solutions that Norled has foreseen and create within ferries and speedboats. Our common ambition is to accelerate the process of conversion to zero emissions in the maritime sector both nationally and globally, continues Grieg.
Elisabeth Grieg will formally hold the position as chair of the board from January 1st 2020. In addition, the board of directors of Norled to day consists of the following members: Torborg Chetkovich, Andreas Köttering, Ville Poukka, Lotte Lundberg, Anders Laukhamar, Roger Johan Andersen, Roy Arne Rimestad and Ingvald Løyning (CEO).
For more information please contact;
Marianne Frønsdal, communications director at Norled, tel. +45 95 12 93 83,
email: marianne.fronsdal@norled.no
