STOLT Tankers has appointed Emile Hoekstra as the new chief financial officer, effective from 15 February.

Stolt Tankers president Lucas Vos said Mr Hoekstra’s appointment is an important step in preparing for the company’s IPO.

“Hoekstra’s background in the oil, gas and chemical industry combined with his process and business improvement experience from Royal Zeelandia Group will support our focus on growing value through continuous improvement and process optimisation across the company,” he said.

Mr Hoekstra worked with Royal Dutch Shell for 14 years before joining Dyas as CFO. He then worked for Australian mining services and chemicals company Orica as its Europe, Middle East and Africa CFO.

And, most recently Mr Hoekstra was a member of the executive board and CFO at the Royal Zeelandia Group. He is also a non-executive member of the advisory board of Goliath, a global manufacturer and distributor of toys and games. He holds a postgraduate degree as certified controller from the University of Amsterdam and a master’s degree in Business Economics from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam.