The Company is poised to benefit from the experience and industry knowledge of its management team, many of whom have over 20 years of experience in the business. Two of them, Mr Harish Mittal and Mr Atul J Agarwal, also serve as Chairman and Managing Director of MLL, respectively and have helped MLL grow from a small lighterage fleet in 1988 to one of India's largest private sector shipping companies. We have also appointed three Independent Directors, namely Mr John Walter Sinders Jr, Mr Huang Yuan Chiang and Mr C.Arul. John has over 11 years of investment banking experience with Jefferies & Co. and is currently CEO of a maritime consulting firm, Sundial; and a consultant to Clarksons - a prominent ship broking company. Mr Huang is a former Head of Corporate Finance, HSBC Asia, and will add financial experience to the Company.
Information on the business and working experience of our directors and executive officers is set forth below:
Harish Kumar Mittal has served on our Board of Directors as Chairman since October 25, 2007. He acted as Chairman and Managing Director of Mercator Lines Limited (MLL) India since 1992 and is currently the Executive Chairman of MLL India. He founded Natraj Organics and Ankur Fertilizers before acquiring MLL India in 1988. Under Mr Mittal's leadership MLL India has grown to become one of the largest shipping companies in India and won the 'Star Company of the Year Award' in SME sector from Business Standard in 2005. He was recognised as 'Entrepreneur of the year' by Ernst & Young, India in 2005 and has received the 'Entrepreneur of the Year 2005-06' award from The Economic Times. Trade Winds, one of the leading shipping newspapers awarded him the 'Entrepreneur of the year Award' in the year 2007. Lloyds List, world renowned Shipping Publication from United Kingdom has awarded Mr Mittal the 'Newsmaker of the year Award' in 2007. Mr Mittal holds a Master of Technology (Geophysics) degree from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee India.
Shalabh Mittal has served as our Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer since Company’s inception in October 2005 with primary responsibility for strategic planning, fi nance and our overall management. Between May 2004 and October 2005, he was a Director of Mercator Lines Limited, India, responsible for managing day-to-day affairs of the Company. Between March 2000 and May 2004, Mr Mittal founded and held the post of Managing Director of Mercator Healthcare Ltd., during which time, he was responsible for overall management strategic, financial and production planning. He serves on the Boards of other group companies as well. He graduated from Sydenham College, University of Mumbai with a Bachelor of Commerce degree and attended the S. P. Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai, India for a post graduation diploma in Business Administration.
Arul Chandran has served on our Board of Directors from July 2008. He has been a Director of many private shipping companies. He has served as Magistrate and Deputy Public Prosecutor in Singapore Legal Service. He served as a partner of law firm Rodyk & Davidson until 1977. He also practiced as Advocate and Solicitor in the Supreme Court of Malaysia from 1964 to 1978. He served as a Partner in Karthigesu & Arul till 1974. He is now a Partner of law firm C. Arul & Partners. Other credentials of Mr Arul are that he served as member in Council of Law Society of Singapore, Council member, former Deputy Secretary General of the International Bar Association (IBA), represented Law Society of Singapore on the IBA Council for 15 years, Founding President of the Maritime Law Association of Singapore (MLAS) and former council member of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators. Presently, he is a panel member of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, the Singapore Maritime Arbitration Centre, Founding and present President of the Singapore Maritime Arbitrators Association (SMAA). Mr Arul is a Barrister at Law, Middle Temple, London, 1959.
Atul J. Agarwal has served on our Board of Directors since October 2007. Between 1983 and 1988, he practiced as auditor and tax consultant for A. J. Agarwal & Co., of which he was the proprietor. Since 1988, Mr Agarwal has served as a full time Director and is currently the Managing Director of Mercator Lines Limited, India, with responsibility for day-to-day management, fi nance, accounts and taxation matters. He is a Director of several companies, namely Mercator Healthcare Ltd. since 2001, Thirumalai Chemicals Ltd since 2003, Indian National Shipowners Association since 2004 and AAAM Properties Pvt. Ltd since 2006. He is also the Director of Oorja Indo KGS, Oorja Indo Petangis Three, Oorja Indo Petangis Four, Oorja Mozambique Lda and Broadtec Mozambique Minas Lda. Mr Agarwal has been accredited with memberships of various committees formed by the Government of India to consider shipping reforms. In addition, Mr Agarwal is a qualified Chartered Accountant, awarded by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.
Huang Yuan Chiang has served on our Board of Directors since October 2007. He is a lawyer by training and was an investment banker by vocation. During his banking career, he held senior managerial positions with various banking institutions including HSBC, Bankers Trust and Deutsche Bank. His areas of specialisation were in the areas of mergers and acquisitions and equity capital markets. In addition to our Board, Mr Huang also serves on the Boards of several other companies including MTQ (Singapore) Ltd, Kuchai Development Berhad, Kluang Rubber Company (Malaya), Berhad and Sungai Bagan Rubber Company (Malaya) Berhad. He is also a Director of Omega Navigation Enterprises Inc., a Company whose shares are quoted on NASDAQ.
John Walter Sinders Jr. has served on our Board of Directors since October 2007. Mr Sinders currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Arabian Capital Corporation, a maritime consulting firm and as Senior Executive Officer of Clarksons Investment Services (Dubai), the Dubai based investment banking subsidiary of Clarksons, the prominent ship broking company. Prior to joining Arabian Capital Corporation, Mr Sinders worked with Jefferies & Company, an investment banking firm, between 1994 and 1999 and again between 2001 and 2007. While serving with Jefferies & Company, Mr Sinders was responsible for overall profi tability of its Houston, London, New York maritime and offshore investment banking offi ces as well as its offi ces in Dubai and Singapore. In between his spells with Jefferies & Company, Mr Sinders served as Managing Director and co-head of Global Energy of RBC Dain Rauscher, a subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Canada between 2000 and 2001. He also served as Non-executive Chairman of Aston Martin of North America. Mr Sinders obtained a Bachelor of Arts and Law degree from the University of Virginia, United States. He also holds professional membership of American Bureau of Shipping (USA).
Pushpatraj Shivlal Shah has served on our Board of Directors since July 2006. He is a practicing Chartered Accountant and consultant through his proprietary firm P. Raj & Company, India and advices on financial and strategic matters to various large corporations, including Mercator Lines Limited, India. Mr Shah obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from University of Bombay and is a qualified Chartered Accountant, awarded by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.
Note:
Our board of directors is responsible for overall management and direction, including establishing general business policies, electing our executive officers and supervising their management. Our board generally meets on a quarterly basis, or more frequently as required, to review and monitor the financial position and operations. Under the overall control and supervision of the board of directors, the Managing Director manages our business operations.