Lundmark New CEO of KCI Konecranes
KCI Konecranes' Board of Directors appointed Pekka Lundmark as President and CEO of KCI Konecranes. Stig Gustavson has been appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors and Björn Saven, KCI Konecranes' Chairman since 1994, has been appointed vice Chairman of the Board. "KCI Konecranes' strategic direction will not change," Lundmark says. Lundmark was born in 1963 and has a Master of Engineering degree from Helsinki University of Technology. Having held various management positions within Nokia he was CEO of Hackman Group between 2002-2004. Mr. Lundmark joined KCI Konecranes in August 2004 as Group Executive Vice President. As Chairman of the Board, Stig Gustavson will continue to play an important part in KCI Konecranes. He also remains a substantial long-term shareholder.
A Shipboard Gantry Crane History
The first open hatch vessel (12,000 dwt) with gantry cranes was delivered to Oestberg's Rederi, in Norway, December 1962. This revolutionary vessel and crane design was a result of cooperation between Oestberg, Crown Zellerbach Co. and the Munck Group in Bergen. Crown Zellerbach Co. was one of the leading pulp and paper companies, located in San Francisco. Its shipping department was headed by Clyde Jacobs, who was a driving force in making the Open Hatch design the new standard for paper and pulp transportation at sea. At that time the vessels were primarily based on the traditional "Shelter Deck" design and the loading and unloading was done with complicated "boom and winch" arrangements.
KCI Konecranes Signs With Ukrainian Port
Ukrainian terminal operator UkrTransKonteiner, KCI Konecranes and its Ukrainian crane manufacturer partner Zaparozhcrane have signed a cooperation agreement on the development of the Iljicevski marine merchant port (IMMP) in Ukraine. The agreement was signed at the "Finnish-Ukrainian Business Forum" held in connection with the Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen's visit in Kiev, Ukraine. The Ukrainian Vice-Prime Minister, Stanislav Stashevski and a business delegation from Finland headed by Stig Gustavson, Chairman of KCI Konecranes, also attended the seminar. The Iljicevski seaport has announced a program for the development of a new container terminal. The program aims at improving the turnaround times for ships and thereby increase the container traffic to the port.
