BIMCO, the international shipping organisation, has announced that former European Commissioner Neil Kinnock (top) is now BIMCO's advisor on European maritime affairs, taking up the post as BIMCO's EU Liaison Officer as of January 1st. The British and European politician, who was appointed VP of the European Commission in 1999 and stepped down last year, will assist BIMCO in its efforts to create a closer dialogue with Brussels on behalf of its members. BIMCO's President, OOCL's C C Tung (bottom), said: "BIMCO has a positive contribution to make to maritime developments within the EU. As the largest of the international shipping organisations and with membership spanning all aspects of the industry, BIMCO is in a unique position to bring the industry's views and pragmatic solutions to the attention of the relevant authorities." The knowledge and experience of Neil Kinnock, particularly as a past Member of the European Commission responsible for Transport policy, the BIMCO President added, would "assist BIMCO in its aim of positively engaging in the maritime policy debates in a constructive way and contribute to our own considerable body of knowledge, expertise and experience". Kinnock said: "The maritime industries are vital to European and world development and prosperity, and BIMCO has long been engaged in promoting progressive policies and practises in shipping. I was therefore very pleased to receive their invitation to work with them in a liaison capacity and I look forward to an interesting and productive relationship." Kinnock, who is also Chairman of the British Council and will soon take his seat in the UK House of Lords, served a full term as European Transport Commissioner (1995-1999) after stepping down as Leader of the Opposition in the British Parliament.

Kenya Airways Cargo has announced the following appointments: Margaret Maina is Ag Regional Sales Manager for East and North Africa (Margaret.Maina@Kenya-Airways.com) and Dennis Waithaka is Ag Freighter & Product Development Manager (Dennis.Waithaka@Kenya-Airways.com).

International freight service and logistics group U-Freight moved into new headquarters in Kowloon and appointed a new four-strong executive management team. The 16,000 sqft headquarters will house U-Freight's Hong Kong based sales, accounting, customer service and administration teams, as well as staff from the company's NVOCC, U-Ocean. In addition, the new office includes a training and conference facility, as well as a strategic planning unit. Operations staff from U-Freight's various companies in Hong Kong will continue to work out of the group's existing freight, logistics and warehousing facilities. Meanwhile, U-Freight's new executive management team, reporting to the Board of Directors of U-Freight Holdings Ltd, consists of Simon Wong, CEO; Danny Chau, COO; Steve Tse, CFO, and Amy Wong, VP-Administration and Training. The new team consists of long-serving U-Freight managers. New CEO, Simon Wong, joined U-Freight over 17 years ago, gaining experience in the company's international operations having in both North America and Asia. COO, Danny Chau, joined U-Freight in 1979. In his new role, he will have overall responsibility for ensuring that U-Freight's operational performance continues to set the standards for the freight industry. Steve Tse has held a variety of accounting positions with U-Freight since he joined the company in 1990. As CFO, Steve will oversee the U-Freight Group's overall finance, accounting, legal and compliance issues. Amy Wong, who joined U-Freight in 1982, will be responsible for U-Freight Group's training schemes and administrative tasks. The address of U-Freight's new Hong Kong HQ is: 21st Floor, Enterprise Square Three, 39 Wang Chiu Road, Kowloon Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Tel: 2362 2201 Fax: 2764 1574.

Modern Terminals' new CEO

After almost eight years as Managing Director and CEO of Modern Terminals, Erik Bøgh Christensen (top) will step down and return to his native Denmark after more than 25 years in Hong Kong. Stepping in to fill EBC's shoes on April 1st is Sean Kelly (bottom), now Modern terminals' Deputy Managing Director. Kelly will be Managing Director and new CEO of the Company. Christensen will continue as Senior Director of Modern Terminals and during a transition period till September 2005, he will be supporting the board and management on a full time basis on special projects including Mainland China development projects. Kelly, formerly a senior shipping line executive with APL, has been with Modern Terminals for over five years.

Ram Menen (left), Senior VP of Emirates Airlines and veteran journalist, Richard Malkin, chronicler of the air cargo industry since 1942, will be named to the International Air Cargo Association's (TIACA) Hall of Fame at the organization's 2005 Executive Conference and AGM in Istanbul in April. Malkin, who began his journalism career in 1927, has been writing about air cargo since 1942 when he covered the launch of the first transcontinental all-cargo service by American Airlines. He has written five books on the industry including a textbook on air cargo, called Air Freight Transportation. Another of his books called, Boxcars in the Sky, won the aviation literature prize. Malkin is an air cargo columnist for The Journal of Commerce and is also founding editor of Air Commerce and edited the North American edition of Hereford's Air Cargo. He was air cargo editor of Distribution magazine and editor of CNS Focus. Menen began his career in aviation in 1976 at Kuwait Airways and later directed British Airways' cargo operations in Kuwait. He joined the Al Qutub Shipping Agencies in Kuwait in 1984 where he managed its airfreight-forwarding unit in Dubai. He was responsible for conceptualizing and development of the LD-36 type of Unit Load Device (ULD), which increased usable space on the lower deck pallet base and is widely in use with various airlines. Menen received a Special Achievement Award from International Freighting Weekly in 2000, and in 2002, Air Cargo News USA named him Cargo Executive of the Year. He received the 2003 International Air Cargo Achievement Award from the World Trade Center Miami for "excellence in promoting East-West trade". Air Cargo World magazine listed him in 2004 as one of fifteen of "Air Cargo's Most Influential Leaders", and World Trade magazine listed him in 2004 as one of the "Fabulous 50" institutions and people who are transforming world trade. Menem is one of the founding members of TIACA and was President and Chairman of the Board 1995-1996. He is a Trustee and Member of the Chairman's Council of TIACA and is also a member of the IATA Cargo Committee. The members of the TIACA Hall of Fame are selected by TIACA's Chairman's Council, which includes all past chairmen and the current chairman of the Association.