Mr Chung Kek Choo, OPM’s General Director was a Director as Port of Singapore Authority who played a major role in directing the long term planning and development of the port and spearheaded the development of container terminal facilities. He was key to moulding PSA into one of Singapore’s major business enterprises and led its diversification programme into port and transport related commercial undertakings. Mr Kek Choo developed bulk handling and storage facilities to facilitate expansion of trade in palm oil, common-user tank farms to enhance Singapore’s position as a major bunkering center, oil supply marine base to service off-shore drilling operations, and ship-waste reception and treatment facilities to improve the quality of port waters.

During his tenure at the Port Authority, he covered senior positions in other large organisations including as Chairman of Changi International Airport Services (Pte) Ltd, Chairman of Suzue Cold Store (Pte) Ltd and directorships at GATX Terminals Ltd., Regional Dredging Corp., Sembawang Towing Co. and Port and Marine Services (Pte.) Ltd.

Mr Kek Choo subsequently moved to the World Bank as a Consultant to cover transport infrastructure planning and development. Major projects covered include:

• Preparation and supervision of port, inland container terminal, and inland waterway projects in China and Vietnam.
• Consultant to the Asia Development Bank for the upgrading of the 800 km Xianjiang Waterway, construction of complementary cargo handling facilities, and integrated development of water resources for navigation and power generation in Hunan Province, China.
• Development of the light rail transit system for terminal linkage in the Philippines

Mr Kek Choo’s experience as a Senior Port Specialist with the World Bank in Washington DC includes:

• Preparation, appraisal and supervision of port and transport projects in Africa and Asia including loan packaging, procurement oversight, and monitoring of contractor’s performance. More than 15 developments with a total contract value of more than $10 billion were implemented under his charge.
• Formulated World Bank lending policy and strategy on port and transport operations; exercised quality control on Bank financed projects.
• Provided guidance and advice to borrowers on port and transport management, operation and development.
• Senior Procurement Specialist for Asia.

Mr Kek Choo was also the Managing Director and founder of International Port Managers Ltd which provides consultancy services in logistics, transport and port operation and management. Some of the major projects include the contract to manage and operate the port of Jubail in Saudi. IPM was also appointed as Consultant to the World Bank for the development of Nava Sheva Port (India) and the modernization and upgrading of port facilities in Shanghai, Tianjin, Huangpu and Dalian.

Muralidharan Ramu, OPM’s Consultant (Finance) has held various senior finance positions in the Container Terminal Industry since 2003. For the period from 2003 until 2014, he was the Finance Manager of PSA Yemen Ltd, Senior Manager (Finance) of OPM Aden LLC, Chief Financial Officer of DP World Aden for two of their container terminals and Financial Accounting Manager of Gulftainer Sharjah Limited for three of their container terminals, namely, North Container Terminal, Jubail Industrial Port and Jubail Commercial Port in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). North container terminal is the largest container handling terminal within the entire Red Sea region.  He was also with Bollore, France and ABG Infra logistics for one of their new container terminal project in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, India.

Muralidharan Ramu has wide experience in the Middle East from his business exposure over the years. He is a post graduate in commerce, qualified Cost and Management Accountant, India and Certified Management Accountant (CMA), USA.

Mr Wee Twee Pok, OPM’s Senior Consultant, has worked in the PSA Corp for almost 40 years in various PSA container terminals in Singapore and overseas from 1976 to 2014.   He started his career as an Assistant Traffic Superintendent in 1976 and worked his way up rapidly to Traffic Superintendent, Operations Manager to Senior Manager and subsequently General Manager of Venice Container Terminal, acquired by the PSA in 1998.

In his PSA career, he worked in various critical posts and functions, notably as a specialist in improving terminal productivity and efficiency.  In this connection, he spent much time in the management of the ship and yard planning function, and operational control room management.

His wide experience and knowledge enabled him to be involved as one of the key planners in the conversion of the PSA Keppel Conventional Wharves to Keppel Container Terminal and subsequently in its expansion to a terminal of some 6 million TEUs handling capacity.  In his various senior management positions, he was involved in all business and operational aspects of the various PSA terminals he worked in, working with a diverse group of port managers and professionals both cross functionally within the PSA and externally with vendors, port services contractors, shipping lines, shippers, forwarders and truckers, other government agencies as well as overseas port operators.

He was tapped by PSA Management in both local project work such as expansion of PSA local terminal facilities and overseas project works such as the planning of the container yard for developing port terminal facilities in Africa. He was a consultant in planning and implementing training programs on various aspects of terminal operations with participants from ASEAN, SEA, Middle East and Africa.  His overseas experience include being the General Manager of the Venice Container Terminal for over 2 years, when it was acquired by PSA in 1998.

He holds a BSc Degree (University of Singapore) and attended courses in Port Management in Delft University, Rotterdam, and Port Computerisation in European Terminals sponsored by PSA Corp.

Mr Azahari Mohamad Yusuf, OPM’s Deputy Director OPM has more than 15 years of shipping related experience. He started off his career with PSA Singapore gaining invaluable container terminal management experience including wharf and yard operations, control centre operations and ship and yard planning. He was given several commendations for achieving high productivity levels and innovation to improving work processes.

Subsequently he worked as a Central Planner with P&O Nedlloyd for the South and West Africa trade and Asia-West Coast United States trade and later as a Central Planner with Hapag Lloyd Asia for Asia-Europe, Asia-West Coast United States and Middle East services.

At OPM, Mr Azahari was posted to Iran as a Senior Operations Manager at Shahid Rajaee Container Terminal in Bandar Abbas to cover the areas of improvements in ship operations, yard and ship stowage planning and assisted in the implementation of a new IT system for the terminal. Mr Azahari was also covering the Training Coordinator role for all aspects of training including operations, engineering and IT. He had also personally conducted training for port staff at Iran which was finally completed with the award in certificate in ship stowage planning issued by Singapore Polytechnic.

Mr Azahari was subsequently posted to Yemen as the General Manager at Aden Container Terminal where the terminal achieved its highest throughput during his tenure before returning to OPM HQ in Singapore to cover business development and consultancy projects in countries such as Sudan, Libya, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Indonesia, Iran, Yemen and Oman.

Mr Tan Kee Chai, OPM’s Senior Consultant (Operations) has over 30 years of local and regional port management experience. The positions he held at PSA include being the Operations Manager at 2 container terminal in Singapore – Tanjong Pagar Terminal and Brani Terminal in Singapore. Mr Kee Chai was also placed as a Manager at Boxcare Department while in PSA which deals with on-dock depot services. Mr Kee Chai was was posted out to PSA’s overseas projects including being the President in PSA’s venture at Pipavav Port, India and General Manager at Aden Container Terminal, Yemen. Apart from the container operations, he is also well-versed in the commercial aspect of the bulk cargo trade.

Kee Chai had been awarded the National Efficiency Medal in 1997, a national recognition for his contribution to PSA.

Mr Ronald Teo, OPM’s Senior Consultant (Operations) spent more 30 years in the PSA Corp in various senior management positions in the 70s, 80s and 90s with extensive experience in port operations and port planning and management. The positions he held include being Deputy Traffic Manager of various PSA container terminal operations; Traffic Manager of PSA multi-purpose terminal; Head of Planning and Development of a new PSA container terminal, General Manager of (PSA) Aden Container terminal, Terminal Manager/Director of Kingston Container Terminal in Jamaica, and Senior Consultant in several PSA and OPM overseas container terminal and port projects.  He was recognized by the Singapore Government for his contributions to PSA with an Efficiency Medal for significant contributions to the successful implementation of 2 major productivity schemes at the Container Terminal, which had not only resulted in substantial savings to PSA but also improved the overall productivity of the Container Terminal.

Mr Cheong Teow Cheng, OPM’s Senior Consultant (Passenger Terminals) was the President/CEO of Singapore Cruise Centre Pte Ltd, a company of the Temasek Group of Companies. His experience in the industry dates back to 1964 when he first joined the then Port of Singapore Authority (PSA).  He left the PSA in 1975 to join Container Warehousing & Transportation Pte Ltd (CWT) as its Operations Manager.  In 1988, he joined Mitsui-Soko and was posted to Europe as its Vice President (Europe Operations).  Upon his return in 1991, he was made the Regional Director for Asia.  He joined Changi International Logistics Centre (CILC) in 1994 as its General Manager and Executive Director.  In 1999, he returned to Changi International Airport Services (CIAS) as its Director of Cargo Services.  He was seconded from CIAS in April 2003 to the Singapore Cruise Centre Pte Ltd (SCCPL) and assumed the position of President/CEO one year later.

Mr Wong Chun Ning, OPM’s Senior Consultant (Civil Engineering) was Director Engineering of Jurong Town Corporation (JTC) and Director of Jurong Port, Singapore from 1979 to 1994 after which he was Senior Consultant in JTC till 2002. JTC is a Singapore’s largest industrial estate developer.  Jurong Port is Singapore’s premier bulk port cum break-bulk terminal.  Its bulk terminal handles grain, fertilizers and cement.  In 2002 it added container operations to its port activities.  Mr Wong is currently also Senior Consultant to Boskalis International (S) Pte Ltd.  Mr Wong is a civil engineer by training and has been directly involved in the design of various port facilities, industrial estates and dredging and reclamation projects in Singapore and other countries in Asia.

Mr E.J. Tensingh, OPM’s Senior Consultant (Civil/Harbour Engineering) Mr. Tensingh has over 40 years of experience in Port and Harbour development and administration. He was the Chief Engineer of Tuticorin Port Trust, (Presently V.O.Chidambaranar Port Trust), Govt. of India and served in various capacities from 1975 to 2012. He is currently a Senior Consultant in Port sector and at present Project Advisor to Ennore Port Limited, Govt. of India and a Resource person to Indian Ports Association, New Delhi, India. He has served in Royal Kingdom of Bhutan on Bilateral assignment from Govt. of India from 1986 – 1989. He is a Civil Engineer with M.Tech (IIT, Bombay) in Docks and Harbour Engineering and is directly involved in planning of various Port facilities, dredging and reclamation projects in India. Mr. Tensingh has visited Ports in Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Netherlands and Belgium for training. He was a member of the Indian Government Delegation to Sri Lanka in connection with Rehabilitation of a Harbour in 2010. He was also the Good Will Ambassador to Sri-Lanka in the first voyage of passenger ferry service from India to Sri-Lanka in 2011. His achievements and projects include Capital & Maintenance Dredging, Inner Habour development by constructing berths, Outer Harbour development proposal and implementation of Web Enabled Land Management System in Tuticorin Port Trust and part of the Team to obtain ISO standards (QMS & EMS) and ISPS code for the Port. He was also instrumental in the Port for winning “Green Tech Environment Excellence Silver Award” for three consecutive years – 2008, 2009 & 2010 and “Gold” for two consecutive years – 2011 & 2012.

Mr Lawrence Seow OPM’s Senior Consultant (Marine), has more than 35 years of experience in port piloting, tanker mooring and tug management in the port and shipping industries. His major career highlights include the following:

• Deputy Pilot Superintendent of PSA Corp (Port of Singapore)
• Head of PSA Berthing & Tugs Division
• Senior Pilot, Yanbu (Tanker Port), Saudi Arabia
• Superintendent Harbor Craft Fleet, Yanbu, Saudi
• Senior Pilot, Shipload Marine Services, for tanker mooring & tanker-to- tanker lightering operation.

Capt Duncan Trollope, OPM’s Senior Consultant (Marine/Marketing) has over 40 years of experience in the maritime industry. He commenced his marine career by sailing under NOL and Chip Hua Shipping & Trading. Captain Duncan subsequently moved on to shore-based work where he covered senior positions in various companies including as Group General Manager of Malay States Shipping Group, Managing Director of D&M Marine Services, General Manager of IMCO Maritime Surveyors and General Manager at Advanced Container Lines, subsidiary of Pacific International Lines Group.

Mr Huang Wei, OPM’s Senior Consultant (Engineering, Equipment) has more than 20 Year experience in various crane designs for Container Quay Crane, RTG, RMG, Ship Unloader and Loader, Level Luffing Crane, Gantry crane, Tower Crane, and Overhead Crane. His specialty includes crane mechanical & structural analysis and design, crane relocation solutions, crane lifespan assessment and upgrading total solutions and accident survey and repair consulting.

Some of the major projects undertaken by Huang Wei include

• Warranty service for Hyundai 16 units of Quay Crane in PSA;
• Structural Repair for Doosan 101 units of RTG in PSA Pasir Panjang Terminal
• Technical Survey & Analysis and Provision of Design For Extension of Structural Life for Bulk Unloader in Jurong Port Pte Ltd;
• Height increase, anti-sway modification, hoisting brake modification for YICT 32 units of MHI RTG;
• Relocation and span change of 9 Samsung RTG from PSA Brani to Dubai