JOC Staff | Jun 02, 2011 9:08PM EDT
Bob Sappio, a veteran of 29 years at APL, will leave the company as the container shipping line extends a restructuring of its top management.
Head of trans-Pacific trade at the carrier since 2003, Sappio will leave the business Aug. 1 “to remain in the San Francisco Bay area,” APL said in a statement.
Sappio will be replaced by Steve Schollaert, currently the vice president of APL’s executive vice president of intermodal strategy.
The departure of Sappio, a major voice for container shipping lines in industry meetings and in Washington, follows last month’s announcement that Ron Widdows is retiring as CEO of parent Neptune Orient Lines at the end of the year.
“I’ve devoted my entire career to APL – a company I have tremendous affection and respect for,” Sappio, who joined the container carrier in 1982, said in a statement. “But family priorities are most important, and I’ve made the decision to stay closer to home and remain in California where my family has established deep roots.”
NOL Executive Director Ng Yat Chung, who will replace Widdows as NOL’s chief executive, said Schollaert, the former head of Asia-Europe trade for the carrier, is part of the “best team in the business” and that APL remains focused on “taking care of our customers’ service needs.”