Golden Ocean Group Limited (“GOGL” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the appointment by the Board of Directors of Mr. Patrick De Brabandere and Mr. Patrick Molis as Directors of the Company.
Mr. Patrick De Brabandere holds a degree in Applied Economic Sciences from UCL Louvain-la Neuve. He started his career at the audit firm Arthur Andersen. In 1987, he joined Almabo, the former holding company of the Saverys family, as Project Controller. He became CFO of CMB NV in 1998 and was appointed director of CMB NV in 2002. In 2003, following the partial demerger of Exmar NV from CMB NV, he became director and CFO of Exmar NV, then COO. In 2020 he became CFO of Exmar NV again until June 2022. He currently is a director of CMB NV and he also sits on the Supervisory Board of CMB.TECH since 2023.
Mr. Patrick Molis graduated from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris and holds a Master’s degree in law from Paris X Nanterre. He started his career as a Magistrate at the Cour des Comptes after joining the National School of Administration. Mr. Patrick Molis was General Manager of Union Normande Investissement (1989-1992), CFO of Worms & Cie Group (1994-1997), General Manager of Compagnie Nationale de Navigation (1995- 1998), Chairman of the Board of Compagnie du Ponant (2012-2015) and Chairman and CEO of Héli-Union (2013-2022). He is currently Chairman of Compagnie Nationale de Navigation (since 1998) and director of Sabena Technics. He has previously served as member of the board of directors of Euronav Luxembourg (1995-2001), Euronav (2004-2010), Compagnie Maritime Nantaise (1995-2017), Compagnie Méridionale de Navigation (2008- 2022) and of the Conseil d’orientation du Domaine national de Chambord (2007-2017). Mr. Patrick Molis has been awarded the titles of Knight of the Legion of Honour and Officer of the Order of Merit. He currently sits on the Supervisory Board of CMB.TECH since 2023 as an independent member.
The Company further announces that Mr. Ola Lorentzon, Mr. John Fredriksen, Mr. Ben Mills and Mr. Cato Stonex in conjunction with the above appointments have stepped down from their positions as Directors of the Company. The Company would like to express its sincerest gratitude for the many years of positive contribution these directors have brought to the development of its business.
Taking into account these changes, the Board of Directors currently consists of Mr. James O’Shaughnessy, Ms. Tonesan Amissah, Mr. Patrick De Brabandere and Mr. Patrick Molis.
In its new composition, the Board of Directors looks forward to initiate conversations with the Company's new reference shareholder, CMB.TECH. The Board of Directors expects conversations to include potential strategic options, commercial cooperation, operational and technical partnerships, and/or other forms of business combinations. Until further notice, the Board of Directors intends to maintain the Company’s current dividend policy.
