Newsome to lead S.C. ports

The South Carolina State Ports Authority's board of directors voted Tuesday to hire James I. “Jim” Newsome III as president and chief executive officer, effective Sept. 1.
  

Newsome, 53, is president of Hapag-Lloyd (America) Inc., and brings more than 30 years of global shipping experience to the ports of Charleston and Georgetown.
  

“We are very pleased to have such a well-respected and accomplished executive leading our ports,” said David Posek, chairman of the authority. “He will be welcomed by customers and port workers alike.”
  

“South Carolina’s ports are tremendous economic assets,” Newsome said. “I hope to lead in a way that allows us to focus squarely on our core mission -- serving our customers and bringing economic benefits to the state. With the region’s deepest channels and the most efficient operations in the country, we are very well positioned. I am very excited about the opportunity to advance the state’s ports.
  

"The opportunity to be the CEO of a major port in the South Atlantic is uniquely attractive to me given my overall career experience and family background, with my father having worked in the port business in the region for 25 years,” he said.

 

Newsome’s appointment follows a five-month search for a successor to Bernard S. Groseclose Jr., who left in January amid growing criticism that Charleston was losing ground to East Coast competitors, especially Savannah, Ga.

Maersk Line, which had been the port's largest customer, announced last year it would shift vessel calls to other ports, complaining it was at a competitive disadvantage to other carriers at the port because of higher costs at its dedicated terminal compared to common user facilities.
  

Newsome said he will explore new ways to engage customers and other stakeholders. “Relationships are critical to a port's success, and they will be a top priority,” he said.
  

“Jim was the unanimous pick of both the board and the search committee,” said Bill Stern, the port authority’s vice chairman and chairman of the search committee. “The stars have aligned.”
  

At Hapag-Lloyd, Newsome will be succeeded by Wolfgang Freese, senior vice president for Gulf-Pacific of Hapag-Lloyd (America), since 2006. Based in Houston, he has been responsible for the U.S. South and West. Freese joined Hapag-Lloyd in 1971 and has held various specialist and management positions at Hapag-Lloyd in Germany and other countries.
  

Freese will in turn be succeeded by Salvador “Tony” Bruno, senior vice president of regional sales, based in Piscatawa, N.J.
  

Prior to joining Hapag-Lloyd in 1997, Newsome spent 10 years with Nedlloyd Lines, serving as executive vice president of the Americas, president of Nedlloyd Lines (USA) and other senior management positions.
  

Before Nedlloyd, he spent 10 years with Strachan Shipping Co., where he was president of their Hoegh Lines Agencies subsidiary in Jersey City, N.J. and held other positions in Houston and New York.

 

(Source: American Shipper)