Maersk Container Industry has appointed Sean S. Fitzgerald as Chief Executive Officer effective January 1, 2018. Maersk Container Industry develops and manufactures refrigerated containers, dry containers and the Star Cool refrigeration machine for the global intermodal industry and is part of A.P. Moller – Maersk’s Transport & Logistics division.

Fitzgerald has over 20 years of broad expertise across management, manufacturing, product management and marketing. Since 2014, he has acted as President at Joy Global China, part of the Japanese manufacturing company Komatsu Mining Corp, successfully leading a footprint of eight plants in China. Prior to this, he was Regional Vice President of Joy Mining Machinery, responsible for 13 plants in the Americas. He has also held executive positions over the course of almost 10 years at General Electric.

“We are very pleased to welcome Sean S. Fitzgerald to lead Maersk Container Industry in its next level of development. Having returned to profitability after some tough years, the company is facing a number of opportunities, but also many challenges in an industry more competitive than ever,” says Soren Toft, Chairman of the Maersk Container Industry Advisory Board. “Sean’s proven track record driving production intensive businesses to profitability and market leadership makes him the ideal leader to spearhead Maersk Container Industry towards further market expansion, technology development and efficient operations.”

As CEO of Maersk Container Industry, Fitzgerald will assume overall responsibility for the strategic direction and the entire operations of the company including its more than 5,000 employees in three container manufacturing plants in Chile and China and its R&D center in Denmark.

“Maersk Container Industry represents a brand and heritage that I am proud to join and build upon together with the wider organization,” says Fitzgerald. “I look forward to leverage my experience in heavy equipment manufacturing to build on the company’s strong position in the market. Moving ahead, we will aim to further develop Maersk Container Industry as a profitable company that offers innovative, state-of-the-art container equipment and technology to its many customers.”

Fitzgerald holds an MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University and is a Bachelor of Science graduate in Civil engineering from the United States Military Academy.

The article appeared in MarEx 2017-11-04