Start of the “new” Vroon

We are pleased to announce that all lights have “turned green” and we have today completed implementation of the financial restructuring for the “new” Vroon, which we informed you about earlier this year. This ”new” Vroon will be a more focused, lean and financially robust international shipping company. We will concentrate on our specialised fleet of deepsea vessels (livestock carriers, product tankers and high-heat tankers) and our emergency response and rescue vessels (ERRV). The future of our 40 offshore-support vessels (OSV) will be elsewhere, under new ownership. Several options to wind down this part of the fleet are being pursued and we expect to inform you on progress in the coming period.

Since an agreement with our Lenders was reached in January, we have successfully finalised the many aspects of the proposed solution. As part of the restructuring, the majority ownership of Vroon has transferred to our Lenders, whilst the Vroon family will retain a small interest.

It makes sense to start this new era under new Management, which will develop a renewed strategy for the ”new” Vroon. Today is, therefore, the appropriate moment to announce changes in our governance and leadership team.

As announced earlier this year, Herman Marks has stepped down as CEO on completion of the restructuring today. We thank Herman for having served Vroon over the past 22 years and for his dedicated leadership in the recent, difficult years. We wish him all the best for the future.

We are pleased to announce that Martijn Schouten will join Vroon as our new CEO, from 15 June. Martijn brings extensive experience in the shipping industry, with various international board, commercial and M&A (mergers and acquisitions) roles at IHC. After leaving IHC in 2016, he became the CEO of a subsea contractor in the UK. His most recent position was commercial director of a Netherlands-based family-owned international maritime service provider with shipbuilding activities and renting and operating floating assets. Martijn will be personally introducing himself to Management and staff, starting this Wednesday.

To ensure continuity, Rob Schuyt will continue as CFO until a new CFO is appointed later this year. We expect to be making further announcements on Management changes in the coming weeks.

The current Supervisory Board is stepping down. The new Supervisory Board will be composed of Govert Marras-Hamers as Chairman, Falk Holtmann and Toine van Laack, who will bring knowledge and experience from his previous position on the Supervisory Board since 2017. Govert Marras-Hamers is an experienced board member, who has held senior management positions in various technology companies and was CEO of Royal IHC, a major Dutch shipbuilder. Falk Holtmann has over 25 years’ experience in the international shipping industry, as owner, interim manager and restructurer of various shipping companies.

We extend our appreciation to the departing members of the Supervisory Board: Willem Ledeboer, Rien Zwitsersloot, Dennis Kerkhoven and Magnus Karlsen, and to Ben Vree who acted as our Board advisor. We thank them for their leadership, counsel, and continued support over the past years, which is very much appreciated.

With these new appointments in place, we are ready to move forward towards a new future, while retaining the many elements that have made Vroon a leading ship owner and manager.

Last but not least, we want to thank all colleagues for their hard work and dedication, continuing to serve our clients in the best possible manner. A special thanks to those who have worked relentlessly during the past weeks and months to implement the many steps and agreements needed to complete our financial restructuring. We are very grateful for your dedication and hard work!

The Supervisory Board and the Management Board

For further information regarding this announcement, please contact our media spokesperson, Christopher Savoye, Group Legal Manager (T: +31 76 2068100 or christopher.savoye@vroon.nl).