On 1 July 2026, two major liner operators entered a new chapter.

Ocean Network Express appointed Till Ole Barrelet as its new Chief Executive Officer, succeeding founding CEO Jeremy Nixon, who moves into a Senior Advisor role. Till Ole Barrelet

Barrelet is a shipping insider. He brings more than two decades of maritime and logistics experience, most recently as CEO of Emirates Shipping Line. His appointment also comes with a new leadership structure at ONE, designed to strengthen cross-functional and regional coordination across the group.

On the same day, ZIM Integrated Shipping Services welcomed Dr. Chen Lichtenstein as its new President and CEO. Chen Lichtenstein

His profile is very different. Lichtenstein comes from investment banking, global agribusiness, corporate integration and finance, with senior roles at Goldman Sachs, ADAMA, ChemChina-related businesses and Syngenta Group. His appointment comes at a highly sensitive moment for ZIM, as the company continues to move through the pending Hapag-Lloyd transaction, which has already received shareholder approval but still requires regulatory and state approvals before closing.

The timing is important.

Container shipping is still facing structural pressure from newbuilding deliveries, volatile freight rates, shifting alliances, geopolitical disruption and route uncertainty.
For ONE, the leadership challenge is execution: cost control, network resilience, fleet deployment and the delivery of its ONE 2030 strategy.

For ZIM, the challenge is even more complex: maintaining business stability while navigating one of the most significant ownership transitions in liner shipping.

Two CEOs. Two very different backgrounds. One common test: how to lead liner shipping companies through a market where scale, agility and strategic clarity matter more than ever.