BOLUDA Towage Australia CEO and managing director David Fethers has left the Spanish group. The circumstances of his departure have not been disclosed.
Mr Fethers took up the position in early October 2025 after Boluda’s acquisition of Smit Lamnalco Australia/PNG, where he had been managing director for almost ten years.
He was technical director at CSL Australia prior to that, operations manager at INCO Ships and – astoundingly – a Cathay Pacific international pilot for over two years, having previously flown for Virgin Australia. Mr Fethers began his seagoing career with Howard Smith in 1989 and went on to become chief officer of STS (sail training ship) Leeuwin, an AHTS master with Swire Pacific Shipping, and a tug master with Svitzer.
People seeking Mr Fethers since late last week were greeted with an auto-reply email saying “Mr. Fethers is not available, please contact Mr. Wouter Nieuwveld, CEO of the Boluda Towage Asia Pacific region, for any question.”.
This afternoon [9 March], Boluda issued an official statement from the Rotterdam-based Mr Nieuwveld:
“I would herewith like to inform you that Boluda Towage Australia’s managing director, David Fethers, has left the Boluda group.
“A new managing director replacing David will be appointed soon. In the meantime I shall temporarily assume the Managing director’s responsibilities.
“Should you have any questions, please address them to your local contact or contact manager. Alternatively, please contact Bernard van der Poll [...] Of course, you may also contact me."
DCN understands Mr Fethers is not subject to any restrictions on his future employment.