Maersk appoints Plantaz logistics chief as leadership changes continue

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A.P. Moller Maersk has appointed Bruno Plantaz as its new Global Head of Solutions and a member of the Executive Leadership Team, bringing an experienced freight forwarding and contract logistics executive into one of the group’s senior roles as it continues to develop its integrated logistics business.

Plantaz will take up the position on November 1, 2026, succeeding Narin Phol, who is scheduled to leave Maersk at the end of September.

The appointment puts an executive with extensive experience across freight forwarding and contract logistics in charge of Maersk’s Solutions activities. Plantaz previously spent ten years with Kuehne+Nagel and more than a decade with CEVA Logistics, holding senior leadership positions across several of the world’s major freight markets.

His experience covers Asia Pacific, Southern Europe, India, the Middle East and Africa, giving him a background spanning regions that are important to international forwarding, contract logistics and supply chain management.

Plantaz succeeds Phol after a long Maersk career that included senior management positions across Asia Pacific, India, the Middle East and Africa, and North America.

Maersk said Phol played an important role in developing its Logistics & Services business, with a focus on customer service. His departure comes as the Danish group continues to operate across ocean shipping, logistics services and container terminals as an integrated supply chain company.

For customers and logistics partners, the appointment is significant because the Solutions business sits within Maersk’s broader effort to connect transportation with services extending beyond the ocean leg.

That strategy has increasingly placed Maersk in markets traditionally occupied by international freight forwarders and contract logistics providers. Plantaz therefore arrives with experience from companies operating directly within those segments.

Kuehne+Nagel is one of the world’s major freight forwarding businesses, while CEVA Logistics operates across freight management and contract logistics. Plantaz’s career across both organisations gives him experience on the forwarding and logistics side of supply chains before taking up the senior Maersk position.

The appointment forms part of a wider series of changes in Maersk’s senior leadership.

Chief People Officer Susana Elvira will leave the company in mid October after a 24 year career with Maersk. The company said Elvira has decided to pursue opportunities outside the group.

During her career, Elvira played a central role in Maersk’s approach to its workforce and in developing the company as an inclusive workplace for employees globally.

Maersk has already appointed her successor, who is scheduled to join the company on November 1. The identity of the incoming Chief People Officer has not yet been disclosed.

The company said further details will be announced in due course and in coordination with the executive’s current employer.

The timing means Maersk will bring both its new Global Head of Solutions and new Chief People Officer into the organisation on the same date.

Plantaz will join an Executive Leadership Team overseeing a company that has expanded beyond its traditional position as a container shipping carrier.

Maersk describes itself as an integrated logistics company serving more than 100,000 customers in almost 130 countries and employing more than 100,000 people.

Its operations now combine ocean transportation with logistics products and a global container terminal network. The company operates more than 60 terminal locations, including gateway facilities and major hubs.

That structure means leadership of the Solutions business reaches into an increasingly important part of Maersk’s commercial offering. Cargo owners can use ocean transportation alongside logistics services rather than treating each part of the supply chain as a separate transaction.

Plantaz’s appointment therefore places a career freight forwarding and contract logistics executive inside Maersk’s highest management structure at a time when the company is continuing to position logistics services alongside its ocean and terminal businesses.

The immediate leadership transition will begin with Phol’s departure at the end of September, followed by Plantaz taking up the Global Head of Solutions position on November 1.

Maersk will also use the coming months to provide details on Elvira’s successor before that executive joins the company on the same date.