Prof. Dr. Dirk Max Johns is leaving the management of the German Shipowners' Association (VDR) on August 15.

Managing director leaves

Martin Schrüfer, 13.06.2019, 08:00

Max Johns leaves the German Shipowners' Association

Prof. Dr. Dirk Max Johns is leaving the management of the German Shipowners' Association (VDR) on August 15. According to Johns, he intends to devote more time to his teaching activities as a professor at the Hamburg School of Business Administration (HSBA) and will act as a consultant for the VDR in future.

At HSBA, he is head of the Maritime Management Bachelor's program and the Business Development Master's program. Johns, who has been a member of the VDR Executive Board since 2012, initially joined the association in 2005 as Director of Communications and took over as Head of Central Services in 2010. He was also responsible for national and international employer issues and was a successful negotiator for the international shipping industry at the International Labor Organization (ILO) in Geneva.

Previously, he had worked for ten years in leading positions at ZDF, among others. VDR President Alfred Hartmann warmly thanked the 53-year-old for his work to date and said: "I am very pleased that he will remain with us as an advisor with his expertise, experience and contacts and will continue to work closely on important labor law issues, especially for the shipping industry, and will also represent the VDR internationally.
internationally." Johns' other responsibilities will be assumed by the members of the Executive Board, Ralf Nagel as Executive Member of the Executive Committee and Dr. Martin Kröger as Managing Director, in addition to their current duties.

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