Issued 07 September 2017

The Annual General Meeting of the International Salvage Union (ISU) was held in Singapore 07 September 2017 and the meeting elected Ms Charo Coll as the new President of the ISU.

Ms Coll succeeds Mr John Witte, who will continue as a member of the ISU Executive Committee. Mr Witte said: “It has been a privilege to be the President of ISU and to represent the interests of all our members as we have tackled the major issues facing our industry. The ISU’s own statistics show that our members are facing difficult economic times and there is little expectation of rapid improvement. However, we are a vibrant industry and we continue to provide vital services. I am pleased to hand over the Presidency to Charo and I know she will be a strong leader for the ISU.”
Commenting on her appointment, Ms Coll said: “I would like to thank John Witte for all that he has done for the ISU over the past two years: he has shown great dedication to the role. For my part it is a great honour to be the President of the ISU and I look forward to leading the association as it continues to address the current challenges, in particular, enhancing the reputation of the industry and strengthening further our relationships with shipowners and insurers.”

Ms Coll is General Manager of the Offshore and Salvage Division of Spanish company Boluda Corporación Marítima. She has more than 25 years’ experience in the industry coordinating the salvage division of Boluda Corporation. In this role she coordinated the Boluda Tugs engaged with the Spanish Maritime Safety Agency for 15 years. She also manages the chartering and sales and purchase departments of the corporation.

Charo Coll grew up in Valencia, Spain. She holds a Specialist Degree in International Maritime Law from the Comillas Pontifical University of Madrid and a Ship Management diploma from the International Ship Manager’s Association at the National Sea Training Centre in the UK. She has also attended numerous seminars at the Lloyd’s Maritime Training Programme as well others at the Instituto Marítimo Español.

Ms Coll is a former President of the European Tug Owners’ Association. She has been a member of the Valencian Chamber of Commerce, member of WISTA (Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association) and she was recently honoured with the Valencian Government Business and Social Achievement Award, presented by the President of the Valencian Government.

At the same meeting, Mr Richard Janssen was elected as vice President of the International Salvage Union. Mr Janssen is Managing Director of Smit Salvage and has 20 years’ experience of the marine salvage, towage, offshore and energy sectors. It includes involvement in many well-known salvage and wreck removal cases such as Kursk, Tricolor, MSC Chitra, Troll, PN6 and Modern Express.

Richard Janssen studied business in Rotterdam and has undertaken a number of international commercial, contracting, subsea engineering and management courses. He was a member of the ISU’s Salvage sub-Committee and has been a member of the Executive Committee since 2015.