Van Dyck Takes the Helm at Intertanko

The Council of Intertanko elected Mr Stephen Van Dyck, Chairman of Maritrans Inc., as its new chairman, as nominated by the Executive Committee.

Van Dyck said "It is an honor for me to be entrusted with the Intertanko chairmanship. While the buoyancy of the current freight market raises our spirits, there remains much work to be done in the next few years. My initial focus will be on sharpening our processes for guiding Intertanko; implementing a review of our mission and strategy; and expanding our membership. My vision is for the respect accorded to Intertanko in Washington DC and in Brussels to grow further and to extend to political capitals right around the world."

Van Dyck is Chairman of Maritrans Inc., a company based in Florida in the U.S. operating a fleet of over 475,000 dwt and 3.5m barrels capacity, consisting of 11 ocean-going Super Barges of 21,000-56,000 dwt (including the world's largest oil barge the 56,174 dwt double-hulled Ocean 400) and four handy tankers of 35-40,000 dwt. The company is currently employing a patented rebuilding process to convert its single hull Super Barges to double hull. When this program is finished, the Company will operate the largest double hull US flag fleet.

Founded in 1928 as the Interstate Oil Transport Company, Maritrans has been transporting crude oil and petroleum products around the U.S. coast for over 75 years. The company's fleet grew significantly in size in the 1960s and 1970s as it introduced new super-sized barges.

Van Dyck joined the company in 1974, became Chief Operating Officer in 1975 and President in 1981. In 1987 he became CEO and Chairman of the Board, making him one of the longest-serving ceos in any US shipping company.

Over thirty years he has built a petroleum shipping company which is widely respected for the high quality of its operations and the strength of its financial performance. Van Dyck is quick to point out that safe operations is the real measure of success in transporting oil. His "Not One Drop" programme, now in its fifteenth year, led to zero oil spills in 2002 and just 16 gallons in 2003 including deck spillage, out of more than 7bn gallons (24m tons) of crude oil and petroleum products carried by Maritrans in a year, involving about 2,000 cargo operations (more than five a day).

This commitment to the environment stems from Van Dyck's close-up view of the ocean from ocean-going racing yachts. Having raced all over the world, his greatest sailing achievement was as tactician on the 12 metre Intrepid which successfully defended the Americas Cup for the second time in 1970. The Intrepid was known as 'the people's choice' because of her popular appeal as the last classic wooden yacht to defend the Americas Cup.

Van Dyck brings a variety of abilities and a wealth of experience to serve Intertanko, which will be greatly valued and will be put to good use. A former lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, Van Dyck received a degree in Business Administration from Wilkes College in Pennsylvania and is a Graduate of the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University School of Business Administration. His shipping industry experience stretches wide as Chairman of the West of England P&I Club for the past eighteen years, Chairman of the Chamber of Shipping of America, and he is on the boards of the American Petroleum Institute and Amerigas Propane.

His interest in education is pursued through being a Trustee at Connecticut College and at the Webb Institute of Naval Architecture. He also served for four years 1995-1999 as Chairman of the financial oversight board for the City of Philadelphia which monitored and approved the financial management of the city as it teetered on the edge of bankruptcy. He has been a director of the Philadelphia Orchestra Association and the Curtis Institute of Music.