Hamburg-based Hansa Heavy Lift bids farewell to CEO Roger Liffe immediately, and he will, says the carrier in a press release, be "independently pursuing other opportunities."

The departing CEO will be replaced by two senior executives, both of whom will have the title Managing Director, namely Steve Dawson and Alex Karakassis. They have both been with the company since it was established in 2011.

Steve Dawson (photo below) will be responsible for technical and operational activities, while Alex Karakassis – who has previously served as CFO – will also keep this title and be responsible for commercial and financial activities.

"We firmly believe that Hansa Heavy Lift's unique pool of engineering and technical resources will allow us to further strengthen our performance in our core super heavy lift and transport and installation (T&I) markets. Our company has a unique opportunity to now make the next step in becoming the leading operator in these segments," says Alex Karakassis (photo below) in the press release.

The two new managing directors will work in a market, where rates are currently severely strained, and which, in the past months alone, has seen several mergers and acquisitions. Analysts Drewry recently noted that the project cargo will not improve before the turn of the year 2017/2018, at the earliest.

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