Keppel O&M CEO retires after 36 years of service

Chow Yew Yuen, CEO of Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M), has decided to retire from the company after 36 years of service with effect from March 31, 2017.

Keppel Corporation, the rig builder’s parent company, said on Monday that following Yew Yuen’s exit, Chris Ong, Managing Director of Keppel FELS Limited, would be appointed as the acting CEO of Keppel O&M, effective April 1.

Chow Yew Yuen has been the CEO of Keppel O&M since February 1, 2014. He has been with the company for 36 years and first joined Keppel FELS in 1981 as a project engineer. Over the next decade, he worked in various departments and rose through the ranks to become the president of Keppel AmFELS and later the president of Keppel O&M USA.

Before being named the CEO of Keppel O&M, he became the managing director of Keppel O&M in 2011 and the COO in March 2012.

Loh Chin Hua, CEO of Keppel Corporation and chairman of Keppel O&M, said: “Chris is part of the talent pool which we have been nurturing for leadership succession at Keppel O&M. He has been with the Keppel Group for 17 years, and I welcome Chris in his new role.”

Ong joined Keppel FELS in 1999 and has held a range of key appointments in Keppel FELS, including General Manager of Engineering, Executive Director of Commercial, and Deputy Managing Director, before being appointed Managing Director of Keppel FELS in July 2016.

Apart from his role in Keppel FELS, Ong is the chairman of Bennett Offshore LLC, Keppel LeTourneau USA Inc, Bintan Offshore Fabricators, and Keppel SLP LLC and a director of various subsidiaries or associated companies of Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd.

He is also a board member of the Institute of Technical Education Board of Governors, a member of the Association of Singapore Marine Industries, a member of the Workplace Safety & Health (WSH) Council Marine Industries Committee, and a member of the EnTech Steering Committee.