Intertanko’s Katharina Stanzel voted WISTA Personality of the Year

OCTOBER 10, 2012 — Intertanko Managing Director Katharina Stanzel has been voted 2012 WISTA Personality of the Year at the Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA) meeting of the National WISTA Association Presidents held in Paris on October 3. Her nomination had been submitted for consideration by WISTA UK:

“In 2012 Katharina was unanimously voted as the fifth Managing Director since the Intertanko’s foundation in 1970 – she is the first woman to take this position,” says a WISTA statement. “INTERTANKO is a titan of the maritime industry; its influence is far-reaching, acting as advocates and lobbyists, their connection to the (controversial) fuel / energy industry is intrinsic. Katharina’s responsibility to steer these waters requires great expertise combined with diplomacy – the perfect platform for an environmentalist.

“Katharina is a protector and a campaigner; she has been instrumental in defending the rights of man and the environment. In her 12 years with ITOPF and IOPC, she attended and was responsible for handling many major ship source pollution incidents including the Erika and Prestige. Her offshore research along the coast of Indonesia resulted in the foundation of the country’s first National Marine Park – The Bunaken Park.

“She is a highly educated and qualified scientist and environmentalist having studied at the best universities in Germany, Australia and the UK majoring in marine biology and coastal management. Women have traditionally been under-represented in the area of science, technology, engineering and math. Katarina gave up a promising academic career to ‘apply her learning to the real world.’ Katharina champions the industry as a regular speaker to both undergraduates and industry professionals. Katharina passionately believes in inspiring the next generation.

“She is dedicated to diversity and demonstrates this by her involvement in and commitment to equality steering committees. It was the industry’s truly global and diverse nature that was an attraction to her as a student. Katharina is a linguist speaking English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Indonesian Bahasa. She is a global citizen having lived and worked on all five continents from the ice of Alaska to the heat of Brazil. Katharina knows shipping; she knows what it takes to manage a ship all the way through to complex insurance issues in un-regulated environments. The coalescence of Katharina’s formidable mind with her years as a technical advisor and claims manager has given her a granular and common sense understanding of the maritime industry from the grass-roots up.

“Finally, Katharina has challenged the Intertanko members to accept a 5 year environmental strategy. In 2012 she successfully achieved their unanimous support. Its implementation and foresight will change the shape of the tanker industry.”

Previous winners of this Award include Mfon Ekong Usoro of Nigeria, Suzanne Williams of the United Kingdom, Pamela Conover of the United States, Rodi Kratses and Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou of Greece.

WISTA is growing and currently has over 1.600 individual members in 33 National WISTA Associations (NWAs).