The retirement will happen at NOL’s annual general meeting, scheduled for April 2012. Cheng will be replaced by Kwa Chong Seng, who is to be appointed as director of the NOL board from Jan. 1.
Cheng has served on the NOL board for 20 years, a period which included the Singapore-based company’s acquisition of APL.
“I have seen unprecedented changes on the shipping scene in my years on the NOL board, and I have had the opportunity to be involved in the transformation of NOL into a global premier transportation company that it is today,” Cheng said in a statement.
Kwa is currently deputy chairman of the board of directors at Temasek Holdings, the Singapore sovereign wealth fund that holds a controlling stake in NOL. He was chairman and managing director of ExxonMobil Asia Pacific before retiring in October 2011.
Cheng’s departure is the latest major change for NOL, which earlier this year saw President and Chief Executive Ron Widdows retire and APL President Eng Aik Meng depart.
