Ship management firm V. Group names board member to replace outgoing CEO

Long-serving shipping man to replace former energy executive and consultant who led ship manager for less than two years.

V.Group Chief Executive Officer, Ian El-Mokadem, who was appointed to the position in October 2017, has left the company by mutual agreement, with immediate effect and has been replaced by board member Graham Westgarth.

Westgarth has been a member of the board since September 2018 and has considerable maritime experience (nearly 50 years in the industry). He has worked as a senior executive with major shipping organizations such as GasLog, Teekay and Maersk UK and he was also chairman of INTERTANKO, the oil tanker owners’ association, for five years.

V.Group Chairman, John Pattullo, said, “Ian oversaw a substantial investment programme which delivered new state-of-the-art systems in critical areas such as vessel management, as well as the management and mobilization of seafarers.  He has also been instrumental in establishing a Group-wide set of values for our colleagues with safety at the core, which leaves a lasting legacy for our organization.”