Joakim Lund: shipping must embrace the changes taking place in society

The last 12 months have been an intensely busy period for Erik Thun AB. “We are in a big expansion phase, with the largest orderbook in the history of this company,” said chief commercial officer Joakim Lund. “The orderbook matches supply with demand; [it’s] an orderbook where we build climate-smart, high-quality ships that meet and exceed forthcoming environmental legislation,” he added.

It is Mr Lund’s belief that shipping must embrace the changes that are taking place in society, and that includes leadership style, about which he said “A modern, present and engaged leadership style that strives to embrace respect, equality and diversity is crucial. We in the shipping industry [must] evolve [in] the same way as the rest of society if we want to continue to be successful in what we are doing. We are in it for the long term; we are a family business looking beyond interim reports.”

In the shipping industry, Mr Lund said he admires Lars Höglund of Furetank – “A leader that dares to challenge the industry and take new paths towards climate-smart shipping” – and Lena Göthberg, whose podcast Mr Lund said “visualises and audioises the shipping industry”.

For his nomination of the lifetime achievement award, Mr Lund chose Erik D Nilsson of Rederi AB Gotland. “[He is] a fantastic entrepreneur and business leader, still active at the age of 91 years!”