Senior Management

Jan Vermeij
CEO Ultranav

Mr. Vermeij has more than 30 years of working experience, holding different management positions in Chile, Argentina and Peru. Mr. Vermeij has been part of Ultramar/Ultranav Group for about 18 years. In 2007, he was appointed Executive Vice President of Petrolera Transoceanica, an important shipping Company based in Peru. In 2009, he came back to Chile being designated CEO of Ultratug, the Ultranav's tugboat company with operations in 8 countries in South America. In 2014, he assumed the responsibility to lead Ultramar group of companies holding the position of CEO. In 2018, Mr. Jan Vermeij is back to Ultranav, first as COO and subsequently as CEO. Mr. Vermeij has a Bachelor of Arts degree (Economics major) from the Occidental College – Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. and a post-graduated in Business Administration from Universidad Adolfo Ibañez – Santiago, Chile. Mr. Vermeij is a Chilean citizen and resides in Chile.

Hans-Christian Olesen
CEO Ultrabulk

Mr. Olesen was employed by the East Asiatic Company (EAC) in 1987 and transferred to the Eitzen group in 1997 in connection with the latter’s take-over of EAC’s bulk activities. Mr. Olesen was stationed for two years in Vancouver, Canada and two years in New York, USA. He returned to the head office in Copenhagen in 1994 in order to take responsibility for the company’s chartering department for the European dry cargo division. In 2003, he took responsibility for the Far East and Middle East activities and subsequently in 2007 took global responsibility for the company’s Supramax activities. In 2014, Mr. Olesen also took charge of the company’s global Panamax activities and in 2021 Mr. Olesen took the position as Chief Operating Officer, and in 2022 he became the new Chief Executive Officer of Ultrabulk. Mr. Olesen has a degree in international trade from the Copenhagen Business School. He is a board member of a number of Ultrabulk subsidiaries. Mr. Olesen is the Chairman of the Baltic Exchange European Advisory Council, and this capacity also acts as an Advisor to the Baltic Exchange Index Council. Mr. Olesen is a Danish citizen and resides in Denmark.

Michael Schröder
CEO Ultragas

Mr. Schröder became part of the Group in 1989, when he joined the Tugboat Division of Sociedad Naviera Ultragas Ltda. In his 30 years in Ultranav, he has held several management positions in its shipping business units, including CEO of Petrolera Transoceanica S.A. (Peru), CEO of Sociedad Naviera Ultragas Ltda. (Chile) and COO of Ultranav. In 2019, he became CEO of Ultranav Chile, which integrates the shipping segments involved in the Chilean cabotage and regional trades. Mr. Scröder became CEO of Ultragas in 2021. Mr. Schröder graduated as an Industrial Engineer and later obtained an MBA from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Additionally, he completed an Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. Mr. Schröder is a Chilean citizen and he resides in Denmark.

Raimundo Sanchez
CEO Ultranav Chile

Prior to joining Ultranav Mr. Raimundo Sanchez held several positions in Business Develop and Finance including being CFO at International Salt Company in the United States (Pennsylvania). In 2010 Mr. Sanchez joined Ultranav as Business Development Manager and in 2011 became CFO of Ultranav. In 2020, Mr. Sanchez was appointed COO of Ultranav and in 2021 he took the position as CEO of Ultranav Chile. Mr. Sanchez graduated as an Industrial Engineer from Universidad Católica de Chile and holds an MBA from Kellogg School of Management. Mr. Sanchez resides in Santiago and is a Chilean citizen.

Martin Brau
CEO Antares Naviera

Mr. Brau joined the Ultranav Group in 2008 and has since been working in managerial positions in Antares. Until 2013, he was the Head of the Offshore and Tug Division as well as a Member of the Board of Directors; in January 2014 he was appointed CEO of the Company. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Brau worked for 15 years in the oil sector and served in several countries such as Argentina, Ecuador and Venezuela.
Mr. Brau holds an MBA from the M.I.T (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and graduated with honors as an Industrial Engineer from the Buenos Aires Institute of Technolgy (ITBA). He is an Argentinean citizen and resides in Argentina.

Alvaro Valdez
CEO Naviera Transoceanica

Mr. Valdez joined the Ultranav Group as CEO of Naviera Transoceánica in Lima, Perú in January of 2011. He previously acquired extensive experience as CEO in different industries while working for companies mainly related to the Wholesale and Retail Distribution of Hydrocarbons and also in B2B Technology Sectors in South America, Europe and the Middle East. Mr. Valdez serves as board member of a leading company managing private funds as well as companies directly related to Naviera Transoceánica. He received a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the Universidad de Lima (Lima, Perú), and later obtained an M.S. in Management Science at Lehigh University (Pennsylvania, USA) and an MBA from Northern Illinois University (Illinois, USA). Mr. Valdez is a Peruvian citizen and currently resides in Lima, Perú.

Benedict Geber
CEO Horizon

Mr. Geber started his shipping career with the Ultranav Group in 2006, as part of the team responsible for developing the Group’s Ultrabulk, dry cargo business platform. In 2009 he was promoted and transferred to Horizon Shipping in Miami, as Chartering Manager. Three years of intense company development followed and culminated with his appointment as CEO in 2013. Mr. Geber completed his business studies at the University of Passau in Bavaria and he holds a degree in Business Administration (Diplom-Kaufmann) from the Technische Universität (TU) - Berlin. Mr. Geber is a German citizen and resides in Miami, USA.

Christian Csaszar
Fleet & Projects Director

Mr. Csaszar started his shipping career with the company in 1986 and has since then carried out several duties in various positions within the Group. Since 2002 he has held senior management positions as Executive Vice President at Petrolera Transoceanica, Peru and as CEO of SONAP, Chile. Mr. Csaszar has a diploma as qualified shipping businessman from Insalco, Chile / Chamber of Commerce Hamburg, and holds a degree in business administration from DAV-Foreign Trade and Transport Academy of Bremen, Germany. In addition he completed executive development programs PED at IMD, Switzerland and AMP at Harvard Business School, USA. Mr. Csaszar is a Chilean citizen and resides in Chile.

Henrik Sleimann Petersen
Director – Sale & Purchase, Newbuildings & Long Period

Mr. Petersen joined the group in 1997 holding management positions in the USA (1997-2006), Denmark (2006-2018) and most recently Singapore (2018-2021), where he held the role of Manging Director for Ultrabulk commercial and operational activities in the Asia Pacific region as well as the role as Head of Ultrabulk Shipholdings and a member of Ultrabulks global executive management committee. In 2022, Mr. Petersen joined Ultranav as Group Director for Sale & Purchase, Newbuildings and Long Period Structures. Mr. Petersen started his shipping career in 1986 in A.P. Moller-Maersk where he was part of the Maersk Bulk team to 1994, including overseas postings in Taiwan and Brazil. From 1994 to 1997, Mr. Petersen was a senior partner in a Danish dry cargo broker company. He is a graduate from the Maersk Shipping Academy and has completed executive development programs at a.o. the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, USA and INSEAD, France. Mr. Petersen is a Danish citizen and resides in Dubai.

Francisco Larrain
CFO Ultranav

Mr. Larrain joined the Ultramar Group in Chile in 2008 and has held different positions within the Group thereafter. He has a financial and analytical background from several positions, including Senior Business Analyst in Ultrabulk in Copenhagen from 2011 to 2014 and later as Head of Business Development & Planning in Ultranav in Santiago from 2015 to 2016. He joined Ultranav Business Support in Copenhagen in November 2016 as Managing Director, and in 2020, Mr. Larrain was appointed CFO of Ultranav. Mr. Larrain studied Industrial Engineering at Universidad Católica in Santiago, Chile. From 2014 to 2015 he studied an MBA with a focus on Finance at the Kellogg School of Management in Chicago, USA. Mr. Larrain is Chilean citizen and resides in Chile.