International Salvage Union Names New President

The Annual General Meeting of the International Salvage Union (ISU) was held in Hong Kong, 24 October 2013. At the conclusion of the meeting, Captain Leendert Muller became the new President of the ISU.

Mr Muller, who has been a member of the ISU Executive Committee since 2008, and vice-President since 2011, succeeds Mr Andreas Tsavliris, who will continue as a member of the ISU Executive Committee. Mr Tsavliris said: “It has been a great honour to be the vice-President and then President of the ISU and to represent our Members as we have worked on the important issues facing our industry. I have tried to ensure, through numerous meetings, that the ISU is on a strong footing and has a good rapport with key industry players. Naturally we cannot agree on all matters but I believe that we have made progress through dialogue, understanding, good communications and open discussions.

“I am delighted to be handing over to Leendert Muller who, like me, comes from a family with a long and proud tradition in towage and salvage. Leendert has much experience of the industry and has demonstrated great commitment to the ISU and to marine salvage and I am sure the leadership of our association will be in good hands.”

Commenting on his appointment, Mr Muller said: “We all know Andreas’ great passion for the traditional salvage business and its heritage and history and I should like to thank him for his hard work during his Presidency of ISU. Andreas has made the most of his deep understanding of the business to ensure that ISU has maintained a high profile and has been effective trade association. He has also introduced an ISU Annual Review and a Meritorious Service Award and enabled us to publish again the annual statistics for our industry. We look forward to continuing to benefit from his experience and contributions to the Executive Committee and the wider ISU.”

“For my part it is a great honour to be the President of the ISU and I will do my best to represent our members’ interests as we continue working on the issues we face, engaging with our stakeholders to make sure that this industry continues to provide a vital service to world shipping.”

Mr Muller is joint managing director of Multraship Towage and Salvage based at Terneuzen on the river Scheldt in the Netherlands. The company operates a substantial fleet of modern tugs and heavy lifting equipment and conducts salvage, towage and offshore support services in Europe and the Black Sea. Mr Muller started his career at sea and became a captain of tugboats rising to be Principal Salvage Master and he has been involved in many well-known salvage and emergency response operations. Mr Muller then became Multraship’s Operations Director before becoming Managing Director in 2002. He is an Executive Committee member of the European Tug Owners’ Association (ETA) and a board member of the Royal Dutch Shipowners’ Association (KVNR).

At the same meeting, Mr John A Witte, Jr. of Donjon Marine Co., Inc in the USA was confirmed as vice President of the International Salvage Union.

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Multraship, October 25, 2013