Danish headquartered shipping association Bimco is opening a new office in the US and planning another in Belgium to keep closer tabs on European Union business.
Bimco said on Thursday that it has hired Thomas Damsgaard to head its new Houston office in Texas.
The association said Damsgaard, who has spent the bulk of his career in the US, has extensive experience working in shipowning companies, agency business, and is engaged in training activities. His career history lists roles with Inchcape Shipping Services and Spliethoff Americas working out of Houston.
He joined Bimco on 1 June 2022.
Bimco said an additional staff member will be joining the Houston office shortly and an opening reception for the new office is being planned to coincide with the “Breakbulk Americas” event in September 2022.
The association said it is part of its moves to expand its global reach and provide better services to its members in the Americas.
Bimco deputy secretary general Michael Lund said: “The new office in Houston will focus on delivering services to customers and recruiting new members, scaling up Bimco training activities in the United States, and providing an additional support centre for SmartCon users.” says Michael Lund, Deputy Secretary General at Bimco.
“The location in Houston will also make it possible for Bimco to offer round-the-clock services while advocacy work in Washington DC will continue to be run from the Bimco headquarters,” Lund said.
Bimco, which has offices in offices in Athens, Shanghai, Singapore, London and Denmark, said it also “has ambitions” to open an office in Brussels.
The body said this will allow it to be closer to EU decision-making.
