Mr Fraser will succeed Charles Raymond, chairman, president and CEO of the company, who is retiring.
Additionally, Brian Taylor has been named executive vice president and COO, succeeding John Keenan, who has been granted a leave of absence.
Mr Taylor assumes the COO responsibilities in addition to his current role as chief commercial officer. At the same time, the board has promoted Michael Avara from senior vice president and CFO to executive vice president and CFO. All changes are effective March 11, 2011.
In naming Mr Mandl and Mr Fraser to the positions of chairman and CEO, respectively, the board has split the responsibilities of chairman and CEO into two positions.
Both Mr Mandl and Mr Fraser are members of the company’s board. Mr Fraser will serve as president and CEO until the board identifies a new CEO to serve on a permanent basis. The board is initiating a search process and is engaging a leading executive search firm to assist in identifying candidates to serve as CEO.
Mr Mandl has served as a director of the company since June 2007. Mr Mandl has been the chairman of the board of Gemalto since December 2007. From June 2006 to November 2007, he was the executive chairman of Gemalto. He also serves as the president and CEO and a member of the board of Gemplus, positions he held since August 2002.
Mr Fraser has served as a director of the company since June 2010. From September 2008 to December 2009, he served as executive vice president of corporate strategy at GENCO Supply Chain Solutions, where he also served as CEO of GENCO’s three reverse logistics business units.
From May 2000 to January 2008, Mr Fraser was president and CEO of May Logistics Services and ADS Logistics, two logistics companies with common ownership. From 1996 to 2000, Mr Fraser served in a variety of leadership positions at GATX Corporation.
Mr Taylor, previously senior vice president and chief commercial officer, is responsible for the company’s sales and pricing teams and recently led the company's expansion into the commercial Asia market, which launched in December 2010.
Mr Avara has served as senior vice president and CFO of Horizon Lines since 2008. He is responsible for the accounting, finance, treasury, risk management and investor relations functions of the company.
Prior to rejoining Horizon Lines in March 2004, Mr Avara spent 20 years in various accounting and finance functions at CSX Corporation and its subsidiaries, including Horizon Lines and Sea-Land Service.
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