With effect from today, Rob Grool is taking over the leadership of Zeaborn Ship Management from Holger Strack, who has been acting as the company’s interim CEO since the beginning of the year. Together with Grool, Zeaborn wants to grow its managed fleet to over 250 vessels. 

“With the appointment of Rob Grool, we are very excited to have found an internationally renowned executive for our company’s top management”, said Jan-Hendrik Többe and Ove Meyer, the Zeaborn Group’s Managing Partners.

They added: “Rob has an excellent industry network, possesses extensive know-how in all areas of ship management and operations, as well as international expertise and many years of leadership experience. He is renowned for managing clients’ vessels with an owner’s view. With the acquisition of Claus-Peter Offen Tankschiffreederei (CPO Tankers), we have set the course for Zeaborn Ship Management as a full-service provider in the ship management sector. Together with Rob, we want to work towards a strategic goal of expanding our managed fleet to more than 250 vessels.”

That means Grool is tasked to almost double the size of the managed fleet, which as of April 2019 consisted of 132 ships, including 34 bulk carriers, 85 container vessels and 14 multipurpose vessels, according to the company’s website.

Career

Rob Grool started his maritime career 39 years ago, after graduating as a Master of Science in Maritime and Transport Technology from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. He first embarked on an international career as a marine engineer but moved on to hold executive positions at several renowned shipping companies. including Seaspan Ship Management, Wallem Group and Vroon. 

Following the change of leadership at Zeabron Ship Management, Holger Strack will be focussing on other tasks within the Zech group, which Zeabron is part of. Strack was CEO of Rickmers Maritime Assets and worked at Rickmers Reederei for more than 21 years. Többe and Meyer thank him for his “fantastic job as interim CEO.”