Click the images below to learn more about each team member
The Board
Christian Siemers Haunsø
Founder & Chairman
The Marcura Group
Christian Siemers Haunsø is a non-executive Director of the Board. He co-founded the company in 2001. Christian concentrates on strategy and innovation. Before founding DA-Desk, Christian worked in the Structured Commodity Finance Division at ING Barings in Amsterdam and Moscow, with focus on the metals and shipping industries. Prior to that he worked at a shipbroking and trading house in Hamburg where his duties covered operations, chartering and grain trading. Earlier he worked in the shipping liner trade for Überseeschiffahrtsagentur Transnautic in Hamburg. Christian holds a Master in Shipping, Trade and Finance from Cass Business School. Prior to that, he finished his dual shipping apprenticeship and subsequently completed his ICS examinations at the HSST – Hamburg School of Shipping & Transport.
Jens Lorens Poulsen
Founder & CEO
The Marcura Group
Jens Lorens Poulsen is the non-executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of DA-Desk. He co-founded the company in 2001. His focus is market and service strategy. Prior to DA-Desk, Jens was a Senior Partner at Cultivator A/S, then one of Scandinavia’s leading Management Consultancies, where he provided management counsel to Engineering, Software and Pharmaceutical companies. Earlier, he was involved in the initial launch of Cisco Systems, Inc. in all Scandinavian countries. Prior to that he was Financial Director at UNIRAS A/S, a pioneering scientific visualization software company with global customers. He has held a position as VP Finance for the Treasury of Hafnia, a major Scandinavian insurance group. He started his career with Andersen Consulting, now Accenture. He holds a BSc in Finance and Management from Aarhus Business School.
Felix J. Antero, Esq
GC & CC
The Marcura Group
As the Group General Counsel (GC) and Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) for Marcura, Felix assists DA-Desk with its legal matters, risk management, compliance, and overall strategy and corporate governance. He has worked and consulted with various international companies and had operated a financial services agency in California representing industry-leading institutions. He is a member of the State Bar of California and the American Bar Association and has served in the ABA Advisory Panel. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Ateneo de Manila University, a Juris Doctorate from John F. Kennedy University School of Law and a Certificate in Finance, with Distinction, from UC Berkeley Extension. He is also an alumnus of the University of Cambridge Judge Business School’s Advanced Leadership Programme (ALP).
Karsten Gregory
CFO
The Marcura Group
Karsten Gregory, Group CFO for Marcura Equities, is involved in a broad range of strategic and tactical issues related to the group’s overall mission and practices. These include forecasting, accounting, financial planning and analysis, regulatory compliance monitoring, and the identification of income-enhancing and revenue-generating opportunities. Karsten’s 20 years of international financial experience includes five years as a CFO, as well as work for leading IT companies such as CSC and Dell. He has a graduate diploma in Business Administration from Copenhagen Business School and an MBA from Henley Management College in London.
Hans-Christian Mordhorst
Marcura Group COO
Managing Director,
DA-Desk
Hans-Christian is the Group COO and Managing Director of DA-Desk. Hans-Christian also manages relations with existing and new customers, agents and partners to ensure they derive the maximum value from the services of DA-Desk. He has held a number of positions previously including Chief Commercial Officer for Team Lines, a leading European short sea shipping company; Managing Director for Maersk Line in Russia, Finland and Baltic states; and European Sales & marketing Director for P&O Nedlloyd. Hans-Christian was educated in the A.P. Moeller/Maersk Denmark Management Trainee Program and also as a member of Chartered Institute of Transport at the HSST – Hamburg School of Shipping & Transport. He attended the Herlufsholm Boarding School, Denmark.
Executive Leadership Team
Mark Franklin
Commercial Director and
Deputy Managing Director, DA-Desk
Mark joined DA-Desk in 2007 and is currently Commercial Director and Deputy Managing Director. Mark has 30 years’ experience in the shipping industry, working in the UK, Switzerland, France and the UAE. Prior to DA-Desk, he was an operations manager at Mediterranean Shipping Company in Geneva, working in vessel operations and on the acquisition and development of container terminals. Prior to this Mark worked as an operator and in planning cargo stowage with Norasia, OT Africa Line and CMA-CGM. He also worked in a commercial management role and in port operations at Thamesport in the UK. Mark has a shipping-related MBA from Middlesex University.
Duncan Bruce
Operations Director
DA-Desk
Duncan joined DA-Desk in 2012 and has more than 16 years’ experience within the shipping industry, both at sea and ashore. He has sailed on a variety of vessels including LNG, LPG, Product and VLCCs. He has held management positions ashore for shipping lines with previous roles including Head of Hub Port Management for Asia Pacific and Cargo Operations Manager for Africa, both with Maersk Line. Duncan has global shipping experience having worked in the UK, South Africa, Denmark, Singapore and Hong Kong, where he held a commercial management position in CSAV Norasia. Duncan has a BA (Hons) Degree from the University of Sunderland.
Alexander Tarasenko
Director of Process Excellence, DA-Desk
Alexander Tarasenko has been with Marcura since 2011, initially as Business Development Manager. He transitioned to DataFactory, a new group business unit where he played a key role in launching and managing it.
He is currently Director of Process Excellence for DA-Desk continuously working on improvements towards processes and service delivery.
Prior to DA-Desk, Alex worked with Maersk Line for 7 years both as Finland and Baltics Operations General manager and Russia Cluster Process Excellence manager.
Dionysis Tzelepis
Director,
Financial Services
Dionysis joined DA-Desk in March 2017 as Commercial Finance Manager of PortPayables. He is responsible for developing and maintaining the commercial relationships with our customers as well as enhancing the financial services that our customers value. Prior to Marcura, Dionysis worked for over 10 years with Eletson Corporation in Piraeus, where he held the position of Treasury and Corporate Finance Manager.
Dionysis holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting and Finance from the Athens University of Economics and Business and a Master’s Degree in Finance from Henley Business School of Reading University.
Thomas Banas
Sales Director
Thomas is Head of Sales for DA-Desk. He joined DA-Desk in early 2010 and has been in Dubai since 2015, responsible for the Global Sales Team.
Thomas has close to 20 years’ experience in the maritime industry and previously worked with companies such as Maersk Data, ShipServ and Inchcape Shipping Services. He lived and worked in Asia for 18 years before relocating to Dubai. With a dedicated, sincere and relevant approach to solving problems for our customers, Thomas retains a strong understanding of the issues facing the industry and how DA-Desk adds value. Thomas holds a Blue MBA from Copenhagen Business School.
Management Team
Takashi Ikeda
Account Manager,
Japan
Takashi joined DA-Desk as Account Manager in 2009 and is responsible for managing DA-Desk’s growing Japanese customer base. Prior to joining DA-Desk, he was an extensive user of the DA-Desk web application while an Operator/Manager at a Japanese shipping company doing tramping business worldwide. A 20-year veteran of the shipping industry, Ikeda-san also worked at a number of tramp shipping companies in Japan. He graduated from Aoyama Gakuin University of Japan, and holds a Bachelor of Economics degree.
Mike Rhodes
Account Manager
Mike joined DA-Desk as an Account Manager in 2006. Mike holds a British Masters certificate and spent 27 years at sea onboard a variety of vessels sailing worldwide. Mike came ashore in 1999 taking up the position of Head of Marine Operations at Global United Limited (Bahamas), a large shipping agency. He has also been DA-Desk’s Safety Manager.
Emma Wilson
General Manager,
Europe
Emma joined Marcura in 2018 as a Regional Customer manager based in Geneva, Switzerland, and supports existing, new and future customers across Europe. Emma has worked in the shipping industry since 2007, specializing in Dry Bulk operations, with responsibility for process efficiency, change management and cost optimization. Previously Emma worked at Cargill International SA and was an extensive user of DA-Desk. She has a BSc (Hons) degree in Mathematics and French from the University of Manchester.
Michael Bang Gronbech
Account Manager
Michael Bang Gronbech joined DA-Desk as Account Manager in 2015. For over a decade, Michael has worked in the Tanker Industry, specializing in the tanker product market focusing on voyage optimization such as port cost management and bunker cost control. Before joining DA-Desk, he worked as Head of Tanker Operation for Maersk Broker and Senior Commercial Operator with Maersk Tankers with previous experience from tanker brokering, handling time charters, new building and voyage contracts. Michael holds a Certificate of Maritime Law from Skuld, Copenhagen.
Andrea Mcleod
Account Manager
Andrea joined DA-Desk from university in a graduate trainee program. Since 2002, she has progressed through various departments and roles in DA-Desk, such as Onboarding Manager in 2014 where she was responsible for on-boarding, training and lead-in of new key customers. In 2017, she moved to an Account Manager role, responsible for customer relationship management and is the first point of contact for customers’ senior management. Andrea holds a Bachelor of Business Management degree from Bangalore University and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers.
Sofia Drakou
Account Manager
Sofia Drakou joined DA-Desk as Account Manager in 2016. For almost two decades, Sofia has worked in the Shipping Industry with focus on operations and disbursement accounting. Before joining DA-Desk, Sofia established the Disbursements Department for Product Shipping & Trading S. A. in Athens and was also a Senior Operations Manager at A.M. Nomikos in London managing commercial operations for bulk carriers. Sofia is also experienced in the tanker segment in Capital Ship Management as well as Trafigura Maritime Ventures Ltd. in Athens
Michael Oliver
Account Manager
Michael started with DA-Desk in 2012 and has 20 years of experience within the Crude, Clean Petroleum Product, Dry bulk and LNG sectors, most recently as a manager with Overseas Shipholding Group (OSG). Michael graduated from the University of Northumbria and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers.
Tom Watson
Account Manager
Tom joined the company in 2012 and has 18 years varied shipping experience including nearly a decade in port operations and a similar amount of years in vessel management and logistics, working on vessel stowage, scheduling and port and services contract negotiations. He has worked for some of the world’s largest and most diverse shipping corporations such as CP Ships, K-Line and Hutchinson Port Holdings. He holds a certification in the Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Sea and Vessel Stability as well as a Diploma in Supervision and Management.
Sarvotham Bhandary
Account Manager
Sarvotham Bhandary joined DA-Desk in 2006 as a knowledge worker and has risen through the ranks to become Account Manager and manages some of DA-Desk customers. Prior to working with DA-Desk, Sarvotham spent 10 years with a leading Indian Shipping Agency. Sarvotham holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Mangalore University and is currently pursuing the qualified membership of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers.
Balaji Nadar
Account Manager
Balaji joined DA-Desk in January 2005 and has worked with all aspects of the services provided to customers. Over the years, he has been involved in operations, customer experience and onboarding management, all such roles that benefit him in his current role as Account Manager.
Prior to joining DA-Desk, Balaji worked for a Shipping Agency in India, focusing also on disbursement accounting.
Sigrid Teig
General Manager,
Singapore
Sigrid joined Marcura Singapore in 2020, where she is responsible for the service and support to regional customers, covering a range of Marcura’s services and platforms. Prior to joining Marcura, Sigrid worked as an independent consultant focusing on process improvements in the shipping industry, and has previously held several management positions with a major dry bulk operator. Sigrid holds an MSc in Economics and Business Administration from the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH). She has lived and worked in Singapore since 2009.
Capt. Pramod Pillai
Head of Operations,
Mumbai
Capt. Pramod Pillai joined the group in 2019 and is the Head of Operations at Marcura India Services Pvt. Ltd.
He holds a British Masters certificate and has spent 16 years at sea onboard a variety of vessels sailing worldwide. He has over 17 years of shore-based experience, which includes port management, vessel operations, ship broking, chartering and shipping agency.
His previous roles include working as Owners Representative for a New Ship building at Gdansk, Poland for Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement – a German shipping company. Capt. Pillai is overall responsible for our operations teams in Marcura India.
Thomas Bennett
GM, Group Agency Business Development
Tom joined DA-Desk in 2017 as General Manager, Group Agency Business Development. Previously, he spent over 5 years with Inchcape Shipping Services, first in their Global Hub before then transitioning to local operations where he rose to the position of Vice President Marine Services – North Europe. During this time Tom was responsible for a number of key initiatives, including rolling out a Standardised KPI Dashboard to global hub customers, delivering seven straight quarters of service delivery improvement on a critical growth account as well as identifying key strategic areas for business expansion including managing closer relationships with sub-agents. Tom has a BA (Hons) Degree from the University of Birmingham and has obtained his Advanced Diploma from the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers.
Vijay Mishra
Process Improvement Manager
Vijay Mishra joined DA-Desk in 2008 and is responsible for ensuring that DA-Desk processes are continuously improving and delivering value to its customers. He manages Lean Six Sigma and Quality initiatives on process improvements. He is also involved in promoting sustainability programs. Prior to joining DA-Desk, for more than 12 years he worked at leading global companies including Dell and ICICI Bank dealing with back office processes. He graduated in Mathematics from Mumbai University and is a Trained Six Sigma Black Belt.
Anna Zhurbenko
Agency Relationship Manager
Anna joined DA-Desk in 2011. As Agency Relationship Manager, she assists in the development of new services that add value to both agents and principals and is responsible for enhancing the agent/DA-Desk working experience. Prior to joining DA-Desk in 2011, Anna served as Operations Manager at Wilhelmsen Maritime Services. She began her career as Deputy Director of International Affairs at Projection Institute GIPROGRAD and has served on the Faculty of Transport Technologies and Systems Sea Transport Operations & Management of Odessa National Maritime University.
Anna holds a Master’s degree, foreign philology faculty, at State University named after V.A. Soukhomlinskiy. She holds an MBA in Shipping and Logistics from Middlesex University.
Nigel Harkness
Director, PortLog Support Services
Nigel joined DA-Desk in 2002. Over the years, Nigel has worked throughout the organisation and been involved in the development of the DA-Desk System and different operational processes. Nigel has managed several commercial projects under the DA-Desk umbrella and is currently GM of Laytime-Desk, a service launched in 2016. Prior to DA-Desk, Nigel worked in Papua New Guinea and Hong Kong for Swire and Jardines. Nigel has an MBA from Herriot Watt University.
Bruce Kuiper
Commercial Manager,
PortPayables
Bruce joined DA-Desk in December 2016 as Commercial Manager of PortPayables, and is responsible for commercial contact with customers, the onboarding of new customers and ensuring the smooth and efficient running of PortPayables. Previously, Bruce worked with Ernst & Young and prior to joining DA-Desk, he was a Financial Director for a mining company operating across East Africa. Bruce has a degree in commerce from Stellenbosch University in South Africa, and is a qualified chartered accountant.
Ruchir Mankodi
Project Manager
Ruchir has worked with DA-Desk first from 2004 to 2011 as Assistant Operations Manager, and returned to serve DA-Desk customers as Account Manager in April 2016. Ruchir is focused on and responsible for continuous system and process efficiency improvements.
Previously, Ruchir worked at the Offshore Oil Terminal, Kandla Port Trust, in India. In 2008, Ruchir completed the Professional Qualifying Examinations for the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers in 2008.
Masaki Kaneko
Head of Customer Integration and Applications
Masaki has been with DA-Desk since 2003, initially as Account Manager. He transitioned to business analysis/ requirements for the software development side acting as a conduit between the business and the development team, building the DA-Desk application based on customer requirements. He is also responsible for handling development requirements for DA-Desk data integration with Voyage Management Systems and other DA-Desk applications.
Prior to joining DA-Desk, he worked as interline manager at a liner shipping company in Miami.
Masaki holds a degree in mathematics from the Queen Mary University of London and a Master’s degree in Trade, Transport and Finance from Cass Business School, City, University of London.
