Irene Rosberg
Erle Kristin Wagle and Capt Michael Elwert will champion the renowned maritime strategy course
The world-renowned Blue MBA – the Executive MBA in Shipping & Logistics at Copenhagen Business School – has announced the names of its first Blue MBA Ambassadors.
Erle Kristin Wagle, manager, environmental performance at BW Fleet Management; and Capt Michael P Elwert, director of group strategy, human relations and support at Thome Group, will advocate the mission of the Blue MBA and serve as leaders and liaison for their fellow alumni of the program.
Both of these first ambassadors are based in a main hub of the maritime industry: Ms Wagle in Oslo and Capt Elwert in Singapore. The ambassador concept is to be expanded to other regions, giving the Blue MBA a global ambassador reach.
The launch of the initiative marks a further enhancement in support by the Blue MBA for the maritime and associated industries through equipping executives to handle at top level the challenges of globalisation, and those of strategic direction in their own organisations. Since 2001, the MBA has graduated 120 executives from 35 countries.
Irene Rosberg, program director for the MBA course, said: ”The Blue MBA has been very successful in engaging its community with the support of the Blue MBA Alumni, the members of which play a pivotal role in enriching the program.
Erle Kristin Wagle
“We take enormous pride that our alumni believe that the Blue MBA experience has benefited them greatly and that they certainly would like to stay connected to the program in order to help advance the work and preserve the value of the program.
“All of our graduates are considered our ambassadors, ” said Ms Rosberg, “but as a new means to better connect the graduates on regional level and encourage them to build a stronger network of alumni we have started assigning Blue MBA Ambassadors to different regions.
“It is with great pleasure that I can now introduce the first two ambassadors for the Blue MBA.”
Ms Wagle has global responsibility for environmental performance in BW – and has over the last two years been heading BW’s energy efficiency /CO2 emissions reduction program. The BW Group is one of the world’s leading maritime groups in the tanker, gas and offshore segments, operating a fleet of 96 owned, part-owned or controlled vessels engaged in worldwide trade.
Her Integrating Strategy Project, undertaken by all candidates in the Blue MBA program to integrate the topics they have covered and their work on a project of special interest to their company, was entitled The Strategic Importance of Maritime Energy Management . This project built the foundation for the Energy Management Program in BW, and has since given results of a 7% reduction in fuel consumption per nautical mile, equating to an annual reduction in CO2 emissions of 200, 000 tons and an annual saving of $35m for BW and customers.
Ms Wagle has 17 years of extensive experience with four major shipowners. She has been with BW / Bergesen dy ASA since 2002
Her main responsibilities have been the management of global projects related to process standardization and efficiency improvements within supply chain management, maintenance management, manning systems, standards and policies, maritime energy management and environmental performance.
In addition to completing successfully the Blue MBA program, Erle Kristin Wagle holds a Bachelor of Management degree from the Norwegian School of Management.
Captain Michael Elwert
Capt Elwert joined the Thome Group in Singapore in February 2009, before which he was chief business development officer with BIMCO covering for the shipowners’ organisation the areas of global business development, international sales, public relations, courses and marketing activities. Earlier he had been senior counsellor with the Danish Shipowners’ Association in Copenhagen.
He is a graduate of the Nautical College of Copenhagen and holds a Masters in Nautical Science. During his 18 year career with the AP Moller – Maersk Group he has held a wide range of positions: as group HR director and regional health, safety, security, environment and quality manager in the Svitzer Group; business development manager and operations manager in Maersk Bulk; crewing at Maersk Technical; and director at Svitzer heading group PR & communication.
In between stages of his shore career he has been pursuing a seagoing track and in 2001 was given command as a master with Maersk.
Capt Elwert is a member of the HR Maritime Forum, member of the Intertanko HR Council, and is on the executive committee of the Singapore Maritime Employers Federation as chairman of its strategy working group. He is a sought-after speaker at international shipping and HR conferences worldwide.
For further information, please contact Irene Rosberg, Program Director, Executive MBA in Shipping and Logistics (The Blue MBA) ir.mbs@cbs.dk
