I was extremely pleased to be given this opportunity. When you have these large integrations, older and therefore more expensive employees are often quite useful during the transition period, but are then let go, once the integration has been completed. When I heard of the merger, to be honest, I didn’t think that Hapag-Lloyd would offer me a permanent role in the company. I pictured myself as a one company employee. I always thought my shipping career started with UASC and would end with it. The merger came as something of a surprise to me and many of us. At that time, you had been with UASC for close to 35 years. Let’s talk about the merger for a moment. Through that restructuring, I became Vice President for Asia and continued in that role until the integration with Hapag-Lloyd. This means it had a division by trades with regional divisions that ran all the offices. Then UASC went through structural reorganization that was closer to the structure of Hapag-Lloyd. But I went along and became the Regional Sales Director for Asia at UASC. Second of all, I had been to Singapore before and wasn’t terribly excited about it. Also, I had made many great friends there and built a good business network. It’s a fascinating country with a rich culture and history. First of all, I didn’t want to leave Japan. In 1994, UASC decided to move the regional office away from Tokyo, which became increasingly expensive. When did you ultimately move away from Tokyo? After getting more involved in sales management, I eventually became the Sales Manager for Japan and Korea. He even speaks a little Japanese.” I found out that one of my strengths was building relationships. The sales people liked to take me with them to see customers and tell them: “We are bringing this very strange Englishman with us. My Japanese colleagues saw great novelty value in me. After Yokohama, I moved back to the Tokyo office and started in a sales role. These jobs taught me how ships and ports functioned. Through that, I also got involved in operational stowage. For six months, I took on very basic tasks, making sure the arriving ships had everything they needed. UASC sent me to the Port of Yokohama to work as a ship runner. My first role was an extremely good learning experience. What did your first assignment look like? And I stayed with them until the merger with Hapag-Lloyd. I spoke some Japanese and knew the Japanese culture, which was important to UASC. Because of containerization, UASC was expanding their business in Japan.
![the twist of my life the twist of my life](https://cf.geekdo-images.com/V_sQBfpQBRVr8ctKK_HzCxhPCeI=/fit-in/1200x630/pic333798.jpg)
![the twist of my life the twist of my life](https://i2.wp.com/parksihoossi.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/MGL-Ep-32-52.jpg)
That’s how I got to know a lot of people from UASC socially. But Tokyo had an expatriate community that, at the time, was quite small. When I joined, I had no real experience in the shipping industry. I started working for United Arab Shipping Company in early 1981. Initially, my plan was to stay for only three months. In late 1977, I went to Tokyo, which at the time was an incredibly interesting place. How did you get started in the shipping industry? There is no way we could have imagined today’s ships back then. Today, nobody is wowed even by a 20,000 TEU vessel. I remember looking at the first 2,000 TEU ship it was absolutely marvelous. As we moved into containerized shipping, efficiency and productivity went through the roof. The vessels that UASC used before containerization often had a heavy lift capacity of 120 tons.
![the twist of my life the twist of my life](http://gamearchive.as.ua.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/life_twists_turns_box.jpg)
Before that everything was breakbulk, which posed its own unique challenges. In my early days at UASC, the company started operating their first container ships with a capacity of 2,000 TEU. Looking back at my career, I am also proud that my entire journey in shipping has been here in Asia, which has been an incredibly dynamic market from the day I started. Even though I will miss a lot of people, I will also enjoy taking it a bit easier after working very hard for four decades. I am grateful for the great teams I had the honor of leading and for the managers that in turn led me over the years. This includes my new friends and colleagues at Hapag-Lloyd. I will truly miss the many friends I have made during that time. When I retire, I will have worked in shipping for 39.5 years, almost four decades.
![the twist of my life the twist of my life](http://www.annarbor.com/assets_c/2010/04/hulsebus-twists-and-turns-board-thumb-300x301-36717.jpg)
Looking back at my career, I am very proud that I have been able to survive this long in our competitive industry. What are your emotions at the moment?ĭavid Skillen: I think there is a mixture of emotions. Now, your retirement is approaching quickly. You have been in the industry for decades.