Management and board shake-up at Viking O&M

OFFSHORE and marine systems provider Viking Offshore & Marine has promoted its chief financial officer (CFO) and chief operating officer (COO) to head honcho due to the retirement of the outgoing chief executive officer (CEO).

It also made changes to board positions after the stepping down of an independent director.

Low Jooi Kok, 51, will take the reins from Ong Choo Guan, 64, who retired as CEO and executive director on Tuesday, the company said in a flurry of bourse filings on Tuesday after the market closed.

Mr Low will also become an executive director and will relinquish his CFO and COO positions, with effect Tuesday, it added. He became CFO in March 2010 and was named COO on top of that role in January 2015.

Viking said that as a result of a recent group reorganisation, Mr Ong, who was due for retirement at the company's annual general meeting, did not seek re-election as a director and would also step down from the CEO role.

Mr Ong had been CEO and executive director since April 2010. Noting that Mr Ong has "more than 30 years of management experience in the offshore and marine industry", Viking said that it had tapped him to be senior adviser to the board with effect Tuesday, "to provide strategic guidance and advice to the board in relation to the company's business".

The group also said that Kenneth Law Ren Kai, 32, would take over from Mr Low as CFO. Mr Law was appointed group financial controller in March 2015.

Apart from the management changes, an independent director at Viking O&M also retired from the board. Lien Kait Long, 68, stepped down on Tuesday and was retiring voluntarily to "facilitate refreshing of the board", the company said in a bourse filing.

Mr Lien became an independent director in May 2009 and was audit committee chairman.

Viking said that an audit committee member, Kelvin Tan Wee Peng, would take over from Mr Lien as audit committee chairman.

It added that Cynthia Phua Siok Gek would replace Mr Tan as chairman of the remuneration committee.