The chief executive of Napier Port Garth Cowie is announcing his retirement in December 2017 after 37 years of service in the shipping industry.
Cowie gave notice of his impending retirement to the Napier Port Board this week to allow plenty of time for a robust recruitment process and thorough handover to his successor.
Napier Port chairman Alasdair MacLeod says Cowie should take great pride in his achievements that have positioned Napier Port well for the future.
“He’s developed an outstanding senior management team and a motivated and dedicated staff across the board – across our marine, cargo handling and support functions. They are pushing industry boundaries nationally and internationally in health and safety, technology and logistics,” says MacLeod.
“Napier Port’s relationship with customers and suppliers is strong, and the company is forging partnerships for collaboration across the globe,” he says.
“We are heading towards a healthy profit this year, and we are currently planning for a wharf development that will see Napier Port significantly increase its capacity,” says MacLeod.
Cowie says he recently turned 60 and, as the milestone approached, he began to contemplate all that had been achieved by Napier Port.
“After 17 years at the helm, while it will be sad given the friendships and colleagues I will miss, this is the right time to go,” says Cowie.
“Napier Port is now exceeding all expectations, and the company is in excellent shape to tackle the massive growth that’s coming,” he says.
“When I arrived at South Port in 1999, we were handling less than 100,000 twenty-foot equivalents (TEU) containers a year – we are about to break 300,000 TEU, and we’re set to increase even more over the next few years,” says Cowie
“Not only have we had growth but we’ve had tremendous cultural changes within our organisation,” he says.
“We are more engaged with our staff, we are recognised leaders in port health and safety, and we are working more closely with our community than ever before,” says Cowie.
After 22 years as a chief executive (17 at Napier and five at South Port), and an enormous amount of travel visiting shipping lines and customers across the world, Cowie says he’s ready to spend more time with his wife, Monique, their children and grandchildren and set his sights on new projects.
“The future is bright for Napier Port, and I have a few other things on my list that I want to tick off,” says Cowie.
MacLeod says while it will be difficult to replace Cowie, his decision to retire will create a tremendous opportunity for someone in the industry. The recruitment process will begin immediately.
