On 1st March, 2025 Danish-based maritime consultancy Knud E. Hansen announced changes to its senior management structure.
This includes Javier Suárez succeeding Finn Wollesen Petersen as the company’s Managing Director.
The move to the new management structure is part of a planned process that has been taking place over the past months.
During this time, Suárez and Petersen have worked very closely together in order to facilitate a smooth transition, the ship designer and consultant said.
Petersen, who has been Managing Director since 2003, will remain with the company. His focus will switch to co-ordinating the company’s US operations.
Spanish national Suárez joined Knud E. Hansen in 2017 as Director Operations. His maritime career began in 1995 when he graduated with an MSc in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.
Following this, he has enjoyed diverse roles, including at the Astilleros de Huelva Shipyard, where he worked for over a decade in commercial and technical roles. He then undertook commercial and senior management roles with Voith Schneider, including Vice President Marine Americas for Voith Turbo.
Petersen began his maritime career sailing on board reefer and polar vessels before undertaking his education in mechanical engineering at Århus Teknikum.
Following this, he worked internationally on a range of shipbuilding projects, specialising in HVAC, before joining Knud E. Hansen, which has designed vessels and conversions for almost every sector of the maritime industry, including passenger ships and ferries.
Speaking of the move, Petersen said, “It has been an honour to have had the opportunity to steer Knud E. Hansen over the past decades. I’m grateful to be able to place the company into the capable hands of Suárez.
“With his extensive knowledge of the industry, and his long experience at Knud E. Hansen, I am confident in his ability to take the company forward in the coming years.
“I’m looking forward to supporting him in his efforts and to my new challenge of rebuilding our business in the United States.
“The coronavirus pandemic had an adverse effect on our, mainly cruise focused, operations in the country. My focus now will be bringing our activities back to their full potential,” he said.
Suárez said, “I would like to offer my sincere gratitude to Finn for his hard work at Knud E. Hansen these past 22 years. He has successfully grown the company into an international organisation with a strong reputation.
“When Finn took on the role of Managing Director, we were a small business with one office in Copenhagen and around 20 employees.
Today, we are an international operation with offices in Denmark, the Faroe Islands, UK, Spain, the US and Australia, and over 100 employees.
“My role now is to continue this work, keeping Knud E. Hansen close to its clients around the world and maintaining our focus on the many maritime sectors we serve, including the passenger and offshore wind segments where we have enjoyed so many successes in recent years,” he concluded.
