Philly Shipyard to Appoint New CFO

Philly Shipyard ASA announced that Brian Leathers will assume the position of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) immediately following the Q2 2019 meeting of the Board of Directors on July 15, 2019.

Mr. Leathers will replace Jan Ivar Nielsen, who is resigning from his position as the company’s CFO to pursue another executive role within the Aker group.  Mr. Nielsen will remain available to the company until August 15, 2019 to ensure a smooth transition.

Mr. Leathers has served as the company’s Strategy and Compliance Officer for the past six months, reporting to Mr. Nielsen. Prior to that role, Mr. Leathers was engaged by the company as a consultant with respect to its strategic efforts to position the shipyard as one that can perform both government and commercial work. As the new CFO, Mr. Leathers will report directly to CEO Steinar Nerbovik.

Mr. Leathers previously worked as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Austal USA, a prime government contractor for the design, construction and support of high-speed aluminum ships for the U.S. Navy. During his tenure, Austal USA grew from fewer than 1,000 employees to more than 4,000 employees, converted from a commercial shipyard into a government contractor and was awarded over $6 billion in Navy work.

The company’s current CFO, Mr. Nielsen, first served as the company’s CFO from 2002 to 2007 and then rejoined the company as CFO in 2015.  He will be appointed General Manager in Ghana for the newly established investment company Aker Ghana Industrial Corporation (AGIC). AGIC has been set up by Aker ASA to promote local industry through both investments and transfer of know-how.