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116Maritime Reporter & Engineering News Platsidakis to Head Intercargo Intercargo appointed John Platsidakis as Chairman. Platsidakis is currentlyManaging Director of Piraeus-basedAnangel Maritime Services Inc., a func-tion that he will continue to performalongside his role as Intercargo Chair- man. Platsidakis said ?the role of Chair- man of Intercargo is both a great honor and privilege for me given the important work that the Association carries out. Taking the role after Mr. Pappadakis is undoubtedly a daunting task given his en- thusiasm and passion for the dry bulk in- dustry, but I?m hoping that I can equal his achievements and success during my tenure and urge our members to enhance their support of Intercargo to assist in my efforts to achieve the objectives of our Association.? Stanzel Wins WISTA Award At the Women?s International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA) meet- ing of the National WISTA Association Presidents held in Paris on October 3rd, INTERTANKO?s Katharina Stanzel was voted the 2012 WISTA Personality of the Year. Her nomination had been submit- ted for consideration by WISTA UK. ?In 2012 Katharina was unanimously voted as the fifth Managing Director since the Association?s foundation in 1970 - she is the first woman to take this position. IN- TERTANKO is a titan of the maritime in- dustry; its influence is far-reaching, acting as advocates and lobbyists, their connection to the (controversial) fuel / energy industry is intrinsic. Katharina?s responsibility to steer these waters requires great expertise combined with diplomacy ? the perfect platform for an environmentalist. Previous winners of this Award include Mfon Ekong Usoro of Nigeria, Suzanne Williams of the United Kingdom, Pamela Conover of the United States, Rodi Krat- ses and Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou ofGreece.Black Promoted to S VP of WR Systems Greg Black, Director of the Govern- ment Business Solutions Division, was promoted to Senior Vice President of W R Systems, Ltd. (WRSystems). He hasmore than 30 years of experience in fed- eral and private sector weapon system program management. He served in the United States Air Force and after completion of his military duty, entered the Federal Civil Service as an engineer with the Naval Space Com- mand, performing several functions in- cluding Program Manager for theRelocatable Over-the-Horizon Radar (ROTHR) program. He joined WRSys- tems in 1997 and holds a Bachelor of Sci-ence degree in Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. Wärtsilä North America Appoints Webb Wärtsilä North America appointed Patrick Webb as General Manager, Field Services, USA. Webb is a graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy and holds a Master of Business Adminis- tration from Auburn University. Webb brings over 20 years of marine engineer- ing and business management experi- ence. Based in New Orleans, Webb will oversee the North American field serv- ices team and will be a member of theU.S. Services Management Team. OW Bunker Launches Physical Operations in U.S. OW Bunker launched a Physical Divi- sion in its US operation to complementthe company's existing trading arm. To drive the growth, the company has ap- pointed Adrian Tolson as Regional Man- ager and Keith Richardson as a Senior Trader for the North American Physical Division. Jan Christensen, Vice Presi- dent, Physical Division, OW Bunker, said: ?I am delighted that Adrian Tolson and Keith Richardson have joined OW Bunker. They have a wealth of industry experience and will play a pivotal role in creating the infrastructure for our new Physical Division in the US, and driving its growth. Their knowledge and under- standing of the region will help us to build better and closer relationships with our customers, enabling us to meet theirincreasing needs and demands.? OW Bunker's US Physical Division will be based out of Connecticut. The ini- tial focus will be to provide physical sup- ply in the US Gulf and create a platformfor further expansion in key ports throughout North America. OW Bunker: New Global Quality Control Standard OW Bunker launched a new global standard to ensure the quality of productssupplied by its physical division. The move is part of strategy to drive annual global claims below 1%, an unprece- dented figure in the bunker industry. Cus- tomers will be provided with a specification analysis on a minimum of 90% of all physical product orders, de- livered prior to the usual testing proce- dures conducted by an external fuel oil analysis provider. This is designed to ensure total rigor inthe fuel oil testing process and guaranteesthat customers receive the best quality products. ?Fuel quality is critically important toour customers, particularly as regulations become more stringent,? said Jan Chris- tensen, VP, Physical Division, OW Bunker. ?Our new global standard on pre-testing analysis provides customers with confidence in our products and our quality control processes.? ?Claims are expensive for all parties and something that ship owners can ill- afford in the current economic environ- ment. Pre-testing analysis reducesunnecessary claims and saves customers' money. Through this and other quality control measures, OW Bunker is striving to achieve an industry-leading goal of less than 1% claims.? Dr. Strahberger to Head Marine Business at Voith Turbo As of October 15, 2012, Dr. Christian Strahberger (40) takes over the responsi- bility for the Business Division Marine of Voith Turbo. After studying physics in Regensburg, Colorado (USA) and Mu- nich, Strahberger obtained a doctorate at the Walter Schottky Institute of TU Mu- nich in 2001. Prior to joining Voith AG he worked for seven years at Siemens Management Consulting (Siemens AG) in Munich as a Consultant and ProjectManager of international industrial proj-ects of Siemens AG. His activities fo- cused mainly on sales optimization andrestructuring. At Voith, Strahberger started out by as- suming the strategy management at Voith Paper as Vice President Strategy in 2009. From 2010 he was in charge of rebuilds, spare and wearing parts, as well as serv-ices for stock preparation and recycling machinery as Senior Vice President Prod- ucts & Services and Member of the Man-agement Board of Voith Paper Fiber & Environmental Solutions. Strahberger succeeds the previous Head of the Divi- sion Dr. Martin Füllenbach. Dielen Joins GPA in Brazil Baldo Dielen joined Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering firm Guido Perla & Associates, Inc. (GPA) and has been appointed General Manager of theBrazilian branch Guido Perla do BrasilLtda. Dielen, a naval architect himself with over 20 years of extensive experi- ence in the international maritime busi- ness, has worked in over 40 countries with residential periods in the Nether- lands, the UK, the USA, and the past nineyears in Brazil. Previous experience in Brazil includes maritime consultancy and working as Partner at EDDY Tugs. Dielen also held various management positions with SMIT. NEWSPEOPLE & COMPANIES ChristensenWebb StanzelPlatsidakisMR#11 (114--121):MR Template 11/6/2012 11:54 AM Page 116