Visit by Wallenius Marine

WMU was delighted to welcome a delegation of twelve from Wallenius Marine on 21 January 2019.

Wallenius Marine, whose vision is “Leading the way towards truly sustainable shipping”, has worked to reduce the environmental footprint from the ships they manage and have designed for over 30 years. The family-owned company, which is part of the Soya Group, strives for zero emissions from shipping, and has developed an extensive road-map to achieve this, through performance monitoring, innovative ship design, including wind-powered vessels, up-stream ballast water treatment and optimizes anti-fouling systems. With 1,100 employees in Sweden, Singapore, the Philippines and Myanmar, the company has been an important player in the shipping industry since it was founded in 1934.

Presentations about the work of the company were made by Johan Mattsson, the CEO; and Per Tunell, COO. Dr Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, WMU’s President, noted that the University and Wallenius Marine had very important areas of common interests, most importantly the pre-eminence of sustainability in development and growth. Wallenius Marine’s pioneering spirit, long-term approach and emphasis on social responsibility, the environment and quality, were all directly paralleled within WMU.

During the visit, specific areas of potential cooperation were identified, including the provision of fellowships to support students at WMU, areas of common research interests, access to specialist software systems and support for the 2020 Alumni Conference. Wallenius Marine also believes that WMU’s work should be more widely known and supported by the Scandinavian shipping industry, and assured the President of their support in achieving this.