Ports of Auckland has appointed former head of Maersk New Zealand, Jens Madsen, to be its next chief executive.
Madsen, 49, will replace Geoff Vazey who has been chief executive since 1996 and is due to retire at the end of August.
Madsen joined Ports of Auckland aschief operating officer in February 2006. He spent 28 years with the world's largest shipping company, AP Moller Maersk, establishing and heading its New Zealand arm from 1996 to 2000.
Ports of Auckland chairman Gary Judd said Madsen's expertise and experience provided the company with strong leadership and a valuable insight into the wider shipping industry.
"This is a significant appointment for both Ports of Auckland and New Zealand's shipping and logistics industry. We are absolutely delighted to have someone of Jens Madsen's calibre in this role."
Maersk - which controls 40 per cent of the world's container market - decided in November to put the bulk of its services through the Ports of Auckland, at the expense of the Port of Tauranga.
The port has suffered from congestion since the Maersk volumes started coming through in January.
Madsen is keen to improve the port's productivity and the pace at which it can turn ships around.
"The overshadowing objective is always to see if we can contain the cost. It [Auckland] is a very expensive place to operate, compared to other places in New Zealand," said Madsen.
His appointment comes after Port of Tauranga said last week it was withdrawing from formal merger discussions with Ports of Auckland.
He declined to comment on the prospects for the merger, but said the industry was undergoing a lot of challenges and he would aim to "position the port accordingly".
He was not fazed by the intense interest shown by central government to open up the port land, as shown by the stadium proposal last year.
