Hafnia Tankers' new board of directors has now been settled after BW Group's acquisition of the Danish product tanker shipping company back in the summer. The new owners will sit at the end of the table with Andreas Sohmen-Pao as new chairman of Hafnia Tankers.

The new board of directors thus consists of John Ridgway, Peter Read, Erik Bartnes, Alexis Atteslis, Gregory Feldman and Carsten Mortensen, who this week announced his decision to step down as CEO of BW Group.

Since BW Group's acquired a majority stake in Hafnia Tankers, the parties have been working to settle the new board of directors, while they are still working on an upcoming merger of Hafnia Tankers and BW's product tanker shipping company, BW Tankers. Tina Revsbech recently stepped down as CEO of BW Tankers, which indicates that Mikael Skov is on track to become CEO of the company once a final merger has been agreed upon.

Hafnia Tankers' CFO Georg A. Whist has also stepped down from the product tanker carrier, likely in order to make room for BW Tankers' CFO once the merger is completed. Whist stepped down from the board at the end of August.

The changes have taken place this summer after BW became the new major shareholder in Hafnia Tankers with the acquisition of shares from a collaboration between the funds Blackstone, Tufton Oceanic and Hartmann, and others.

Hafnia Tankers CEO Mikael Skov said to ShippingWatch that there is broad support for the merger which is expected to fall into place in the near future.

"There is a desire from everyone's side, yes. We believe in consolidation and that by looking at collaborations within this sector we should be in a position to secure a better product and ultimately better returns for our shareholders," he said.

Hafnia Tankers currently has a fleet valued at approximately USD 1 billion with 43 vessels and four LR1 newbuildings in the joint venture Vista Shipping. BW Group's three tanker companies within product tanker, crude oil and chemical according to Vesselsvalue have a worth of USD 1.97 billion.

When Mortensen stepped down from his position Monday, he explained that his future could lie within board posts. Apparently, one of them will be with his former employer, headquartered in Singapore.

English Edit: Daniel Logan Berg-Munch & Lena Rutkowski

Hafnia Tankers CEO confirms merger talks with BW Tankers 

BW Tankers CEO steps down amid merger talks  

Carsten Mortensen steps down as BW Group CEO