Nicolas Saverys (1958) - Executive Chairman

Nicolas Saverys is the Executive Chairman of EXMAR. Until April 2020 he was CEO of EXMAR, a shipping company specialising in the marine transportation and transformation of LNG, LPG, anhydrous ammonia and petrochemical gases. He has been involved in the family shipowning business since graduating from the University of Ghent with a degree in economics in 1980. He has been responsible for developing EXMAR from a small subsidiary of a shipyard in the early 1980's to  its current position as one of the leading independent gas shipowning companies plus becoming provider of a full value chain of infrastructure and integrated logistics to address the industry's need for environmental friendly and competitively priced energy solutions. In addition to shipping, his current business activities include ship management and real estate. For almost 20 years, Nicolas Saverys was Chairman of the Royal Belgian Shipowners Association and, during that period, he was the driving force behind the successful regeneration of the Belgian register which led to an unprecedented growth in the national fleet. He is also Chairman of the Benelux Committee of Bureau Veritas, in addition to serving as a Director of Bexco.

Carl-Antoine Saverys (1989) - Executive Director

Carl-Antoine Saverys has been involved in the family ship owning business since 2009, starting with an internship at Exmar Offshore Houston and chartering manager at CMB.  He further developed his experience in shipping as Sale and Purchase Broker, with Victoria Shipbrokers GmbH & Co. KG in Hamburg.

Since 2017 he is Business Development Manager at EXMAR NV.  He holds various director positions in Exmar Group companies including Ship Management.

As from the 1st of January 2024, Carl-Antoine Saverys will take up the role as CEO of Exmar NV.

Michel Delbaere (1953) - Independent Director

Michel Delbaere holds a Master degree in law (Catholic University of Leuven – 1975) and a master degree in economic sciences (Catholic University of Louvain – 1975).

He started his career as management trainee and account manager at the Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York.

He’s the founder and managing director / director of: Crop’s N.V. (Belgium), Hesbayefrost S.A. (Belgium), Monliz S.A (Portugal and Spain), MDC Foods Ltd (UK), Crop’s & Partners (Serbia), Messem (the Netherlands and Morocco), Agram (Poland), TriNature (France), Tropifrost (Costa Rica) and Onefrozen (USA).

He is chairman of the board of Directors of Sioen Industries and the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel. He is a member of the Board of Directors and honorary chairman of Voka (Flemish network of companies). He’s also a member of the Board of Directors of SD Worx, Bank Delen, Smile Invest and VPK Packaging Group. 

Baron Philippe Vlerick (1955) - Non-Executive Director

Baron Philippe Vlerick graduated in philosophy from the University of Leuven in 1977. He also holds a diploma in law (Leuven – 1978), a MBA General Management (PUB) (Ghent, Vlerick School of Management in 1979) and a Master degree of Business Administration from Indiana University, Bloomington (USA – 1980).

He is Chairman and Managing Director of B.I.C. Carpets, UCO and other Vlerick Group Businesses. He is Chairman of Besix, Smartphoto, Raymond UCO pvt. ltd, Pentahold, BICC&I (Belgo-Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry), Festival of Flanders and Vice-chairman of the KBC Group. Philip Vlerick is also on the board of various companies, other than Exmar NV. Those companies are: BMT, Mediahuis, L.V.D Company and Concordia Textiles.

Isabelle Vleurinck  (1965) - Independent Director

Isabelle Vleurinck holds a Master degree in Applied Economic Sciences from the KU-Leuven and a diploma of Financial Analyst of the Belgian Association of Financial Analysts.
She started her career in the Corporate Finance department with Bank Degroof. In 1992 she joined Almabo/CMB group where she was project coordinator within the finance department until 2004.
She is now member of the board of Axis Group and is a volunteer counselor to the Aid to Victims team for East-Flanders.

 

Wouter De Geest (1954) - Independent Director

Wouter De Geest is independent director of the Company within the meaning of Corporate Governance Code since 2020.

Mr. De Geest was the chairman of VOKA (until 20/11/2022) and was the CEO of BASF Antwerp where he started his career in 1982. He retains his director's mandate on the Supervisory Board of BASF Antwerp. 

FMO BV represented by Francis Mottrie (1964) – Executive Director 

FMO BV represented by Francis Mottrie is  CEO of EXMAR since April 2020.  He holds an MBA law degree from KU Leuven and a special degree Marine Science from UFSIA Antwerpen.

He has over 30 years’ experience in the maritime Industry. In 1987 he started his career as Lawyer at the Antwerp Bar.  Between 1990 – 2012 he held various management positions (legal , HR , commercial , general management ) in CMB , Safmarine and AP Moller Maersk Group .

From 2012 until 2020 Francis Mottrie was CEO of Bexco NV, manufacturer of ropes for Offshore, Marine  and  Industry. He was deputy CEO of EXMAR since January 2020.

From 1st January 2024, Francis Mottrie will no longer assume the role of CEO. From this date onward, Francis Mottrie will act as COO of Exmar NV.

 

 

Stephanie Saverys (1986) - Non-Executive Director

Stephanie Saverys holds a Bachelor degree in Agricultural business management from the RAC in Cirenster (UK).

From 2012 until 2017 she has been in charge of the commercial development of Butet saddles in the Benelux and Germany and she is now the distributor of Butet saddles and Fabbri boots and shoes in Switzerland.


 

ACACIA I BV represented by Els Verbraecken (1970) - Independent Director

Els Verbraecken graduated in 1993 as a commercial engineer from the University of Leuven.

She started her career in export credit insurance at Credendo, the Belgian Export Credit Agency.

As from 2002 she started working for DEME. For several years she engaged in setting up export and project finance structures all over the world. In April 2013 she took the position of CFO of the DEME Group. She is also a member of the DEME Executive Committee. 

 

Maryam Ayati (1975) - Independent Director

Maryam Ayati is Chief Executive Officer of Neo Holdings and Watr Foundation Council President. Watr is a Layer 1 blockchain ecosystem, serving as the Common Digital Protocols for sustainable commodities.  Prior to Neo, Maryam has held executive leadership roles across the globe at Royal Dutch Shell as well as in tech and sustainability.