Captain Stephen Bligh is to be the next chief executive of the Southampton-based Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), one of the most influential jobs in the UK shipping industry.
He will take over from Maurice Storey, the present head of the MCA who is to retire next month, at the beginning of September.
Captain Bligh is currently fleet manager for P&O Nedlloyd Container Line Ltd, one of the port of Southampton's main customers, based in Rotterdam Netherlands.
He has a Master's Certificate and a strong commercial shipping background as well as extensive experience as a user of the MCA's services.
Captain Bligh said: " This has to be the number one job in the UK merchant service. It is an opportunity to move forward with issues that have been in the forefront all my working career.''
The MCA is an Executive Agency of the Department for Transport and was formed in 1998 by bringing together the Coastguard Service and the Marine Safety Agency.
It has an annual budget of £122m, employs about 1,150 staff and 3,250 volunteer auxiliary coastguards.
The role of the MCA chief executive is broad in scope, both nationally and internationally. It combines working in a political area with heavy
management, especially finance and personnel, responsibilities, including the maintenance of high safety and environmental standards in the UK fleet and oversight of a 24-hour safety critical service and emergency response capability.
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