Management

• PETER RICHARDS - CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

  With over 12 years of seagoing experience and 34 years of expertise in the operation and management of Ports and Container Terminals, Peter Richards joined Gulftainer’s headquarters in the UAE in 1987. He has served as Managing Director, General Manager, Operations Manager, Terminal Manager and Operations Superintendent with the company. Mr. Richards is currently the CEO and Executive Board Member of Gulftainer and CEO of Gulftainer’s US arm, GT USA.

  Mr. Richards steered Gulftainer’s diversified growth from being a simple port operator to an integrated logistics supplier. He has played an instrumental role in expanding Gulftainer’s global footprint to Europe, and the Americas, in addition to securing consultancy contracts regionally; and in 2015 took the reins to drive the company’s global expansion plan into the USA.

  Building Gulftainer’s reputation in its home ports, which in turn enabled the company to export its competencies and productivity world-wide, Mr. Richards established the company’s credentials as a premier international port operator.

  A qualified Master Mariner with Diploma in Nautical Science, Mr. Richards has gained the reputation of being able to operate a very tight ship with excellent productivity and maintaining a loyal, long-term staff. His commitment and vision, as well as entrepreneurial maturity, has been recognized by numerous industry bodies including Sharjah’s International Maritime Club (IMC), who awarded him the Golden Helm Excellence Award in the Trade and Export category, the Propeller Club, Port Canaveral who named Peter the Maritime Person of the Year and Logistics Middle East magazine, which has regularly named Peter one of the top five most influential executives in Gulf Cooperation Countries Logistics Industry.

• Tim Haas - Chief Operating Officer

  With 31 years of experience in the transportation industry, Tim Haas is currently the Group COO for Gulftainer in Sharjah, UAE, responsible for operations and financial performance of a portfolio of terminal and transportation companies. Previously he served as SVP & COO of CMA CGM America and has overall responsibility for Marine, Equipment and Intermodal Operations in the US and Canada.

  Prior to joining CMA CGM, Tim was working with Instar AGF, Canadian Infrastructure Fund, specializing in the purchase of transportation assets. He also served as Sr. Vice President of Watco Terminal and Port Services where he ran a network of 22 rail terminals across the US and Canada and a 655-acre industrial port in Houston.  Before that time, he spent his career with Maersk/APM Terminals in various locations around the globe.

  In the US, Tim has managed container terminal operations in New Orleans, Tacoma and Houston.  Besides working in terminal operations in the US, he has managed the Port of Salalah, Oman, worked in business development in Africa and the Middle East from the APM Terminals corporate office in The Hague where he was involved in the port privatization of Luanda, Angola; Aqaba, Jordan; Az Zubayr, Iraq and Bahrain, and held the regional position of COO for the Greater China Area where he sat on the board of 10 joint venture organizations.

• Daniel Wright - Chief Operating Officer

  

  Daniel is a seasoned senior operations management professional with over 31 years of global supply chain and logistics experience, specializing in global ports and container terminals.

  In December 2012 Daniel made the move from the UK to the UAE becoming Terminal Manager of Gulftainer’s flagship container terminal in Khorfakkan. Daniel has served as Gulftainer UAE’s Managing Director and Director of Operations Support since 2020. He joined Gulftainer as Terminal Manager in 2012 and served as Gulftainer Group Operations Manager from 2018 to 2020.

  Prior to joining Gulftainer Daniel held senior managerial positions, starting his career in the UK at the Royal Mail. In 2008 Daniel moved into the Ports industry to take up an operational management role with Hutchinson Port Holdings at the Port of Felixstowe in the UK, being one of only two new entrants at that time, recruited from outside the industry into a management role.  During his time at Felixstowe, Daniel introduced numerous successful initiatives aimed at improving productivity and management/employee communication.

  Daniel is currently the Chief Operating Officer, responsible for driving operational growth across Gulftainer’s global ports and container terminals portfolio.  He is responsible for business relationship liaison between Business Unit terminal operations and port authorities and customer relations.  Along with ensuring safe, efficient and productive operations across Gulftainer’s global portfolio for the management teams to achieve and exceed core KPI's and strategic objectives.

• Arvind Giri - Chief Financial Officer

  Arvind is responsible for spearheading the financial strategy for the Group.

  A seasoned Corporate Finance professional with 23 years of experience, Arvind has worked across multiple sectors, including Oil and Gas, Environmental services, Textiles, and Consulting in varied finance leadership roles.

  He has successfully led M&A deals and raised capital for numerous large and mid-size projects in the UK, South Asia, Middle East, and Africa. This includes many award-winning deals of multibillion-dollar magnitude for large infrastructure projects.

  In his previous role at Averda Group, Arvind held an overall responsibility of partnering growth and managing capital structure and Cairn India Holdings-UK, wherein he was also an Executive Director on the Board of the company.

  Arvind holds a Masters degree in Finance and Control, as well as a Postgraduate Diploma in Treasury & International Finance.

• Simon Aynsley - Group Chief Sales Officer

  Simon is an experienced senior executive in international shipping, maritime, trade, air & sea logistics, road & rail transport, vessel operations and integrated supply chain management having spent his 40-year career working for a number of global firms including DHL International (in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait and Bahrain), Nedlloyd Swire, P&O Nedlloyd, Japanese conglomerate NYK before joining the CMA CGM Group in 1998.

  Simon held the positions of Group Managing Director for the UAE for 3 years and Group Managing Director for Australia/New Zealand for 10 years. He was responsible for the Group’s organisational transformation and increased profitability.

  Simon has held a number of Board positions across multiple companies throughout his career and more recently served as Executive Director and CCO of start-up firm Spectainer, an innovation and technology company designing/manufacturing collapsible shipping containers in tandem with the world’s first fully automated collapsing stations. His strategic vision, commercial strategy and global network including Carriers, BCO’s, IFF’s, road, rail and barge operators has been key to the Company’s future financial success.

  Graduating in Business Management from Melbourne University, Simon his married with 3 children however returns to the UAE this time round with his wife Jacqui only. Simon enjoys golf, Formula 1, Australian Rules, Rugby Union, Cricket and is a keen cook and gardener when time permits.

• Vinay Sharma - Director Information Technology

  Vinay is the Director of Information Technology at Gulftainer. In his role, he is responsible for the continued development of an innovative, robust, and secure information technology environment throughout Gulftainer. He drives the digital strategy of our value chain globally, explores emerging technologies, assesses their impact on the company's business, prototypes and evaluates new concepts, and recommends new approaches and solutions.

  Vinay joined Gulftainer in April 2012. As a technology executive and business partner with more than 20 years of experience, his core focus is on Digital transformation and Innovations. Since joining Gulftainer, he orchestrated a complete transformation of Gulftainer's existing IT infrastructure, mission-critical systems, team composition, and IT culture. Under his leadership, Gulftainer was awarded The Best IT Transformation Award by Logistics Middle East in year 2017. Vinay strongly believes in the alignment of IT strategies with business objectives to help Gulftainer achieve a competitive position in the industry while honouring its commitment to stakeholders worldwide.

  In his previous role, Vinay functioned as an IT Director, where he gained vast experience in the various business verticals of the global supply chain - ports, logistics & transportation, manufacturing, contracting, and distribution. Vinay holds a master’s degree in computer science, specialization in strategy from Harvard Business School, and an Executive MBA from SP Jain School of Global Management.

  Vinay is a member of the CIO global forums, port & logistics industry groups and has won many industry accolades such as CIO100, CXO50 and World CIO 200.

• David Westmoreland - General Counsel

  David Westmoreland is a General Counsel at Gulftainer, highly accomplished legal professional with a wealth of experience spanning over 17 years. As a United Kingdom qualified lawyer, he has consistently delivered commercially pragmatic legal advice to prestigious companies, including FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 firms, across diverse regions such as the UK, Middle East, Asia and the US.

  Prior to his current capacity, David played a pivotal role at Ball Corporation, a Fortune 500 company, where he served as the head of the legal function for the Middle East and Asia region. He also held key positions in the regional leadership team and served as a board member for various joint ventures. His strategic insights and leadership have been instrumental in driving success for the organisations he has been a part of.

  David is a graduate of Exeter University and has also participated in executive programmes at Ball Corporation, Deloitte and Sidley Austin LLP.