NOL Appoints Held CEO

The Chairman of Neptune Orient Lines Limited (NOL), Cheng Wai Keung, announced the appointment of Dr. Thomas Held as Group President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NOL, effective November 1, 2006. Dr. Held will also be appointed a member of the NOL Board of Directors. Dr Held is a German national, whose most recent appointment was as Chairman and CEO of European-headquartered Schenker AG, one of the world’s leading providers of integrated logistics services. He served in this role for three years before stepping down in January 2006 following Schenker’s value-creating acquisition of the North America-based freight forwarder Bax Global. “The NOL Board considers Thomas Held to be one of the world’s outstanding transportation industry leaders and we are delighted to have an executive of his stature joining our company as CEO,” Cheng said. “A range of opportunities are available to a global company such as NOL. Ultimately, the success of this Company will be the result of the united contributions of all of our people around the world, pursuing a common purpose”, Dr. Held said. “I have great respect for the reputations of the talented group of executives who lead NOL and I’m excited to be joining them. APL is one of the best performing businesses in the global shipping industry. And APL Logistics is a formidable player in the logistics industry.” Dr. Held will be based in NOL’s Singapore head office.