Ocean Network Express will consolidate its East Asia and South Asia regional headquarters into a new Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore and centralize management of its East, West and South Africa markets in Dubai, effective April 1, 2027.
The Singapore-headquartered container line that consolidates Japan’s K Line, MOL and NYKsaid the Asia-Pacific regional headquarters will combine functions now based in Hong Kong and Singapore and oversee operations in 15 markets. Louis Tang will lead the new organization as region head for Asia Pacific.
ONE is ranked sixth among global carriers, operating more than 280 vessels with capacity exceeding 2.2 million TEUs and serves more than 120 countries.
Separately, ONE will place management of East, West and South Africa under its Dubai regional headquarters. London will retain responsibility for Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa.
ONE said the restructuring is intended to put regional decision-making closer to customers and markets, accelerate growth and support further investment across Asia-Pacific and Africa. The carrier said its local teams will remain customers’ primary contacts and that existing services, contracts and daily operations will continue unchanged during the transition.
Chief Executive Till Ole Barrelet said Asia-Pacific and Africa are important growth regions for the carrier, and that the changes are designed to improve decision-making speed while maintaining ONE’s commitments to individual markets and employees.
Tang said the combined Asia-Pacific structure will give ONE a broader view of the region and create a single team for customers moving cargo between East and South Asia. The company also plans to use the transition to further align functions and responsibilities across the newly combined organization.
In Africa, Dubai already manages much of the region’s trade with Asia, India and the Middle East, according to Sundeep Sibal, ONE’s region head for West Asia. Bringing African markets under one team will allow the carrier to coordinate service and capacity planning across the corridor, he said.
The changes are part of ONE’s “ONE 2030” strategy, which targets sustainable growth and an expanded position among global container shipping lines. Implementation will occur in phases, with existing teams initially remaining in their current roles before further organizational alignment takes place.
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