Svitzer hires new chief commercial officer

Svitzer has appointed María Fernanda Souto to lead its global commercial dealings as the company’s new chief commercial officer. 

Ms Souto joins Svitzer from Danfoss where she served as vice president of the electric heating business.

She brings more than 20 years of senior strategy and transformation experience, leading large-scale commercial operations globally in the energy, maritime, aerospace and digital industries.

Ms Souto will be working at the Danish shipowner’s Copenhagen headquarters alongside senior executives including Anne Daugaard, who recently joined as Svitzer’s chief people officer.

Ms Daugaard joined in March 2026 after serving as global head of people and organisation at multinational engineering consultancy, COWI.

She has led large-scale organisational transformation initiatives delivering strong business impact across Scandinavia, the UK, India and North America.

Svitzer chief executive, Kasper Friis Nilaus, welcomed the new hires and expects they will strengthen the AP Moller subsidiary’s executive leadership team.

“Their skills and experience are highly complementary and will help us further leverage the deep expertise, innovation and experience of our colleagues and leading asset base to the benefit of our customers, operations and stakeholders worldwide,” Mr Nilaus said.