ABOUT US

Svitzer is a global market leader providing towage and sustainable marine solutions to customers in 30+ countries across 4 regions. To deliver on its mission of making ports and terminals safer and more efficient, Svitzer employs 4,000 skilled people and operates a fleet of 440 vessels.

SAFETY
EFFICIENCY
PEOPLE
OUR GLOBAL PRESENCE

At Svitzer, we do difficult things in difficult places and with us, every day is a safe day. The safety of people, assets and the environment where we operate, is the foundation of everything we do. Every day, we work together to ensure the integrity of ports and to provide our customers with safe, reliable and efficient services in ports and terminals across the globe. At Svitzer, Safety comes first.

Safety is a matter of protecting human lives, protecting the environment, and protecting assets, both for our customers and for ourselves. We have a responsibility to always strive to prevent incidents from happening as well as ensure we learn from those that do happen. At Svitzer, we live by these principles every day and everywhere we operate.

We were the first towage company to implement a unified safety management system that complies with OVMSA (Offshore Vessel Management and Self-Assessment). We continuously work to further develop industry standards, by actively taking part in industry forums including OCIMF (Oil Companies International).

We understand that reliability is important to our customers. We leverage data, insights, assets and skills to provide safe, reliable and efficient towage and marine services across five continents, 32 countries and 134 ports. We train our people and manage and maintain our assets to ensure we are always able to meet our customer’s needs for towage and marine services in a safe, reliable and efficient manner.

At Svitzer, we are always looking at the best ways to integrate innovative technologies in both our strategy and our daily operations. We believe, that advanced technologies can further improve safety, efficiency and reliability in our operations for the benefit of our people, our customers and the environment where we operate.

Our commitment to continuous innovation includes the development of the first IMO TIER III tugs, the S65/32 (ECO), and the Diesel Electric Hybrid tugs developed for Chevron’s Gorgon and Wheatstone projects.In partnership with Rolls Royce, Svitzer recently developed designs to create both the world’s first remote controlled tug, the Svitzer Hermod, and the 90 TBP RAstar 2900 for the new Tanger Med Terminal (TM2) project in Morocco.

Svitzer is a people company. Offering uninterrupted marine solutions requires not only the best equipment but also the best people. Our ambition is to attract and continuously develop the industry’s best craftsmen. Both at sea and on land - worldwide, wherever our customers do business.

We are driven by skilled, professional and dedicated people and we work together as one company to provide safe, reliable and efficient services to our customers.

We support and develop our people’s skills and capabilities and we care for the development of both teams and individuals. To best serve our customers, we strive to ensure the right people and the best teams for the job, every time and we believe diversity is a strength.

Svitzer is a leading global towage operator with multiple local operations across four regions and 34 countries, and we make our global reach matter to our customers. We make our global presence and footprint matter to our customers locally and we commit to make a difference in the ports and communities where we operate.

From the icy waters of the Siberian coastline to the sun scorched ports of Chile, we carry out our tasks with precision and care. Every operation has its own particular challenges that need to be addressed, and our aggregated experience is part of what makes Svitzer a reliable provider of undisrupted marine services in the industry.

We combine our strengths to leverage scale and scope of everything we do through efficient coordination of assets, crews, processes and services. By coordinating what we do and sharing knowledge and best practises globally, we enable our people in providing our customers with safe, reliable and efficient services at competitive prices locally.

MANAGEMENT

CEO
CFO
COO
CCO
CHRO
Head of Communications
General Counsel
MD, AMEA
MD, Americas
MD, Australia
MD, Europe

KASPER FRIIS NILAUS

Chief Executive Officer

Career

Chief Commercial Officer, Svitzer

Lawyer, Jonas Bruun Law Firm

Officer of the Reserve, Royal Danish Navy

Education

MBA, Nottingham Business School

Master of Law, Copenhagen University

KNUD WINKLER

Chief Finance Officer

Career

Head of Performance & Analysis, APMM Group

Regional Business Performance Director, Maersk Line, North Asia

Regional Chief Financial Officer, Maersk Line, Middle East

Education

MSc in Business Administration and Auditing

Accelerated Management Program, INSEAD

LEONARDO SONZIO

Chief Operating Officer

Career

Head of Fleet Group Management at Maersk Tankers

Director, Retrofit at Wärtsilä Marine Solutions

Director, Environmental Services at Wärtsilä Services

Project Manager, Wärtsilä Ship Power Technology, Wärtsilä

Education

MSc in Naval Architecture

Growth Accelerator Program (GAP) at Hanken & Stockholm School of Economics – Executive Education

LISE DEMANT

Chief Commercial Officer

Career

Regional Chief Operating Officer, Svitzer Asia

Head of Offshoring, Maersk Tankers

Head of Gas Chartering, Maersk Tankers

Education

Graduate Diploma in Business Administration, Finance, CBS

Accelerated Management Program, INSEAD

LARS EVEN RASMUSSEN

Chief Human Resources Officer

Career

Head of Organisation Development, A.P. Møller - Mærsk

HR Business Partner Logistics, IT & Group Support, VELUX

Education

Copenhagen Business School, Ph.D., Economics

Aarhus University, Masters, Economics

KGI, Existential and Gestalt Psychotherapy

MICHALA PAULLI

Head of Communications

Career

Internal Communications Lead, Maersk Line

Global Communications Manager, ISS World Services

Education

Journalist, Danish School of Journalism

JACOB ULRIK

General Counsel

Career

Head of Legal, Maersk Tankers

Legal Counsel, Borealis

Associate, Gorrissen Federspiel

Education

Executive MBA, INSEAD

Master of Law, Copenhagen University

NICOLAI FRIIS

Managing Director, AMEA

Career

Chief Operating Officer, Svitzer AMEA

Chief Commerical Officer, Svitzer AMEA

Head of Global Sales, Maersk Training

Education

MBA, Henley Business School – Danmark

Business Management/ Establishment

ARJEN VAN DIJK

Managing Director, Americas

Career

Chief Commercial Officer Americas, Svitzer

Commercial Director Marine Services & Fairmount, Boskalis Offshore Energy

Regional Director Americas, Boskalis Offshore Energy

Education

MBA, University of Humberside & Lincolnshire

BA in International Business, HZ University of Applied Sciences

NICOLAJ NOES

Managing Director, Australia

Career

Head of Operations, Maersk Line Asia Pacific

Managing Director, Maersk Australia

Route Director, Maersk Line

Education

EMBA, International Institute for Management Development

KASPER FRIIS NILAUS

Managing Director, Europe

Career

Chief Commercial Officer, Svitzer

Lawyer, Jonas Bruun Law Firm

Officer of the Reserve, Royal Danish Navy

Education

MBA, Nottingham Business School

Master of Law, Copenhagen University

180 YEARS OF TOWAGE

With more than 180 years of knowledge and experience, we strive every day to make port and terminal operations safer and more efficient operations around the globe.

With more than 135,000 harbour towage jobs, and over 50,000 LNG tanker assistances every year we take pride in supporting our customer’s supply chain – globally, regionally and locally. As a global leader in towage and marine-related services, we employ 4,000 people across 34 countries.

We are part of Maersk; an integrated container logistics company working to connect and simplify its customers’ supply chains from end to end.

DATING BACK ALMOST TWO CENTURIES

With roots stretching back nearly two centuries, we’re not only a company with a history, but a company with a strong heritage.

Part of that heritage is a distinct set of principles passed down from our company’s founder that guide our focus on safety, people, vessels and solutions.

These principles have helped us become a company that our customers value for our safety, reliability, local content and focus on doing business in a sustainable manner.

SVITZER 175TH ANNIVERSARY BOOK

OUR HISTORY

1833
1842
1860
1870
1914-1970
1956
1978
1979
1999
2001
2007
2012
2017

1833

Svitzer is established as a pioneering salvage company.

1842

Svitzer buys its first professional diving equipment.

1860

Svitzer salvages a steamship from the bottom of a Swedish lake and rebuilds it into Svitzer's first steam engine salvage vessel.

1870

Svitzer enters the towage business.

1914-1970

Svitzer gains recognition with its expertise as it continues to assist vessels in distress during turbulent times of war.

1956

Svitzer is chosen by the UN to handle the Suez Canal clearance operation.

1978

Svitzer builds an 11,000 hp and 110 bp vessel - one of the most powerful anchor handling tugs for offshore work at the time.

1979

The Maersk Group becomes majority shareholder and acquires Svitzer.

1999

Svitzer begins its geographical expansion.

2001

The acquisition of the Wijsmiller's operation added 140 vessels in more than 20 countries worldwide, cementing Svitzer's position in global towage.

2007

The acquisition of Adsteam Marine added 150 tugs plus barages, workboats in Australiasia and the UK, effectively continuing to expand Svitzer's footprint.

2012

Svitzer sets a revolutionary environmental standard with the launch of the ECOtug.

2017

Svitzer enters collaboration with Rolls Royce in the high-level research and development of systems for remote operation for vessels to enhance existing systems and to develop new ones that improve safety, efficiency and reliability in maritime operations.

MAERSK

A.P. Moller - Maersk is an integrated container logistics company working to connect and simplify its customers’ supply chains. As the global leader in shipping services, the company operates in 130 countries and employs roughly 70,000 people.

The mission of these businesses is to enable and facilitate global supply chains and provide opportunities for our customers to trade globally.

As part of Maersk, Svitzer has access to in-depth industry knowledge and insights which can use to provide innovative customised solutions for our customers.

VISIT MAERSK

OUR VALUES

Svitzer is part of Maersk and Maersk’s values are our values which drive the way we do business. The values are Constant Care, Humbleness, Uprightness, Our Employees and Our name. These five values were ingrained into our operations by our founders, the Møller family, and have remained guiding principles, governing the development of A.P. Moller - Maersk for over a century

SVITZER TUG TOUR

Find out what it looks like inside a Svitzer tug

360 Virtual Tour