Norwegian Hull Club CEO Stepping Down

 

The Norwegian Hull Club announced that John Wiik will step down as CEO on January 1, 2016.

 

Filling Wiik's role will be Faz Peermohamed, the club announced. Peermohamed, a senior partner at London's Ince & Co., is a career shipping man: he is an ex Ship's Master and a maritime lawyer. He currently holds the position of Global Head of Shipping at Ince, where he has worked for some 22 years.

 

Wiik joined the Club in 1979, when the company was still known as Bergens Skibsassuranseforening. Wiik became CEO of the company in 1984.

 

The club's Chairman, Hans Olav Lindal, said, "Mr. Wiik deserves great praise for his long and fruitful career, and for taking the club into new areas of coverage, modernizing systems and claims procedures for the benefit of our clients. He has been an instrumental force in building the organization and the brand name of NHC into the strong position it holds today. The board and our members thank him for his enormous contributions to the club's success and achievements, and are grateful to him for a job well done."

 

Wiik said, "Mine has been an enormously satisfying career with the club, but it's really the people - staff, members, advisors - who have all assisted me in bringing us where we are today. I am delighted that Faz Peermohamed will be my replacement, I am confident that he will be a great asset to the club and that he will continue to take the club to greater successes."

 

From his early days as a seafarer, Peermohamed rose to Captain with Maersk. Peermohamed then qualified as a solicitor in London, and over the past 20 years at Ince has been immersed in helping insurance companies solve complex problems and working with insurers to make shipping safer and smarter. 

 

Since joining Ince in 1994, Peermohamed has become well known for his work as a leading lawyer, and for his strong maritime industry links with shipowners and insurers around the world. 

 

While leading the Global Admiralty team at Ince, he provided counsel on some of the industry's most high profile cases; the Costa Concordia capsize in Italy and the Prestige oil spill in Spain, among others. Each of these cases involved dozens of highly charged legal, commercial and political challenges, the proper handling of which always had to contribute to a safe and satisfactory legal and commercial outcome.

 

His experience has also included creating new clauses to improve underwriting performance, and he has worked with the insurers worldwide in dealing with loss prevention practices, providing practical guidance to help shipping fleets prevent accidents.

 

Wiik said of Peermohamed, "His merits speak for themselves, and he is highly regarded both within the club, by our members, and in the maritime industry generally. We believe he holds the values, the qualifications, and the capacity required to steer the NHC to new and even higher goals."

 

Jan Heuvels, Ince & Co's International Senior Partner, commented "Faz and I joined Ince & Co some 22 years ago and during that time have established a very close working relationship. I am personally delighted for him that he has been asked to join the Norwegian Hull Club, one of Ince & Co's most valued clients, as CEO in January 2016. I look forward to maintaining a close relationship with him, both in his capacity as a client and as a friend."

 

Peermohamed will be supported by the NHC's management team, consisting of Hans Christian Seim, Arne Birkeland, Atle Fjeldstad, Ole Jørgen Eikanger and Per Gustav Blom.