SEALEAD Shipping has appointed Anthony Orgill as its Melbourne-based Australian owners’ representative.

The highly-regarded Mr Orgill finished up at ANL Container Line in June and took some time away from the industry before being recruited as the first to fulfil the role for SeaLead in Australia.

Mr Orgill was with ANL for over 28 years, serving in logistics and commercial roles, in USA, Europe and Asian trades (including four years based in Hong Kong) and finishing as general manager of Asian trades.

SeaLead entered the China-Australia trade in mid-March 2022, as a single-ship contributor to the new CA2 service consortium, which also includes TS Lines, PIL and Yang Ming. In late 2022-mid 2023 SeaLead trialled an Australia-Subcontinent service but this was discontinued after a few sailings. Leeward Group’s Nautical Shipping is SeaLead’s Australian agent.

SeaLead originated in Dubai in 2017, initially purchasing slots on various main liner operator and feeder services to respond to the demand from NVOCC customers before evolving into a Red Sea feeder operator, and then to a provider of a widening range of deepsea services from headquarters in Singapore.

In February this year the ownership of SeaLead transitioned to a group of investors, comprising Eurasia Capital, HCP Investments, Access Capital Funds, and Saral Incorp.VCC SubFund. At the time SeaLead said the transition to new ownership was driven by the company’s “consistent performance and potential for further development in the container shipping industry. The new ownership aligns with SeaLead’s strategic objectives, aiming to leverage the company’s growth trajectory through enhanced governance and access to global capital markets.”

Subsequently SeaLead appointed a new five-member Board of Directors, chaired by former OOCL executive SC Chan, and a new global CEO, Suleyman Avci. Prior to joining SeaLead as VP of Global Trade Management and MD for Europe and Mediterranean, Mr Avci held several senior leadership roles, including MD of Turkiye’s Arkas Line, chief business development officer at Arkas Group, and COO at MAS Shipping in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.