Our People

SVP Corporate Development

Bio

Kai Reith is Senior Vice President Corporate Development at Geoquip Marine and is responsible for corporate strategy, strategic partnerships and growth initiatives across the group.

Kai brings over 20 years of experience in investment banking and corporate strategy. Prior to joining Geoquip Marine, he served as Senior Vice President Corporate Development at PGS ASA, where he was a member of Group Management and played a key role in corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions, and capital markets activities.

At Geoquip Marine, Kai supports the company’s long-term strategic development, helping position the business for continued growth within the offshore energy and marine infrastructure sectors.

SVP, Projects

Bio

James Miller is Senior Vice President Projects at Geoquip Marine and is responsible for the delivery of offshore geotechnical site investigations across the company’s global fleet.

He leads integrated project teams spanning offshore operations, laboratories and engineering, ensuring consistent technical quality, operational discipline and reliable project performance in complex marine environments.

James brings extensive experience in offshore project execution within the energy sector and plays a key role in ensuring Geoquip Marine safely delivers high-quality geotechnical data to support offshore energy and marine infrastructure projects worldwide.

David Hunter

General Counsel

Bio

David Hunter is General Counsel at Geoquip Marine, having joined the company in 2022. He is responsible for legal, contractual and governance matters across the Geoquip group.

Prior to joining Geoquip Marine, David spent ten years within the commercial team of an international subsea services company providing trenching, ROV and AUV services across offshore wind, oil and gas and telecommunications sectors.

Earlier in his career David worked in international law firms specialising in energy, infrastructure and projects. In addition to his role as General Counsel, he serves as Company Secretary for the Geoquip group.

Melanie Sheehan

SVP, Human Resources

Bio

Melanie Sheehan is Senior Vice President, Human Resources at Geoquip Marine and is responsible for the company’s global people strategy, organisational development and HR operations.

Melanie brings more than 17 years of experience in human resources, primarily within the energy sector. She began her HR career with BG Group (now part of Shell), where she held a range of roles including global mobility, generalist HR and regional HR leadership positions.

She has also held HR leadership roles with International Power (now ENGIE) and Buried Hill Energy before joining Geoquip Marine in 2022. At Geoquip Marine, she leads initiatives that support organisational capability, employee engagement and the continued development of the company’s global workforce.

Chris Brandish-Lowe

SVP, Engineering

Bio

Chris Brandish-Lowe is Senior Vice President, Engineering at Geoquip Marine and is responsible for the company’s global geotechnical engineering capability, technical assurance and engineering delivery.

Chris has extensive experience in offshore geotechnical site investigations and engineering. Since joining Geoquip Marine, he has held a number of engineering and project leadership roles, including offshore and onshore Project Manager and Senior Geotechnical Engineer.

In his current role, Chris leads the company’s engineering function, overseeing geotechnical analysis, engineering standards and technical development to support reliable data delivery and informed offshore project design.

Jeremy O’Brien

SVP, Global Operations

Bio

Jeremy O’Brien is Senior Vice President, Global Operations at Geoquip Marine and is responsible for the company’s global offshore operations, fleet performance and operational delivery.

Jeremy brings more than 20 years of experience in drilling and offshore operations across the global energy sector. He began his career in mineral exploration drilling in Western Australia before moving into offshore oil and gas operations, working on floating drilling rigs and complex offshore developments worldwide.

Since joining Geoquip Marine in 2017, Jeremy has played a key role in developing the company’s operational capabilities, supporting safe, efficient and reliable offshore project execution across the fleet.

Ian Hodder

SVP, Sales - Asia-Pacific and the Americas (APA)

Bio

Ian has over 25 years’ experience delivering offshore geotechnical investigations across global energy and marine infrastructure projects. He combines strong technical expertise with commercial awareness and trusted client relationships.

Dennis van den Bulk

SVP, Sales - Europe, Africa and Middle-East (EAME)

Bio

Dennis is a civil engineer by background with extensive experience across technical and commercial roles in offshore geotechnics. He brings strong commercial leadership and project delivery experience to his role supporting global client relationships.

Hans Hanse

SVP, Business Development

Bio

Hans Hanse is Senior Vice President, Business Development at Geoquip Marine and is responsible for leading the company’s global business development strategy and client engagement across offshore energy and marine infrastructure markets.

Hans brings more than 20 years of experience in offshore geotechnical site investigations. He began his career in offshore geotechnical engineering before progressing into senior project, technical and commercial roles supporting complex offshore developments worldwide.

Prior to joining Geoquip Marine in 2015, Hans held leadership positions within the geotechnical sector, including Business Line Manager for Offshore Geotechnics in Australia and New Zealand. At Geoquip Marine, he plays a key role in driving strategic growth and strengthening long-term client partnerships.

Philipp Martens

Chief Financial Officer

Bio

Philipp Martens is Chief Financial Officer of Geoquip Marine and has been with the company since 2019. He is responsible for the company’s financial strategy, capital structure, reporting and financial governance.

Philipp brings more than 15 years of experience across corporate finance, banking, consultancy and restructuring, with a particular focus on the shipping and offshore sectors. Prior to joining Geoquip Marine, he was a Director at Credit Suisse, where he managed credit risk for distressed shipping and offshore portfolios. Earlier in his career he worked as a restructuring advisor at PwC and served as CFO of Argentina’s largest integrated shipping company.

Philipp holds a Master of Arts in Business Administration from the University of St. Gallen and holds the CFA and CAIA designations.

Rune Olav Pedersen

Chief Executive Officer

Bio

Rune Olav Pedersen is Chief Executive Officer of Geoquip Marine, having joined the company in January 2025. He brings extensive leadership experience from the offshore energy and marine services sectors.

Prior to joining Geoquip Marine, Rune spent 14 years at PGS ASA, the Oslo-listed marine geophysical company, where he held several senior leadership roles, including seven years as President and Chief Executive Officer. During his tenure he led the company’s strategic turnaround and the merger with Norwegian offshore energy services company TGS.

Earlier in his career, Rune was a partner in Arntzen de Besche’s Oil and Energy practice. He currently serves as a non-executive director on the board of OKEA ASA.

Director

Bio

Arvid is a Portfolio Manager and co-founder of Njord Partners, a long-term investment management firm based in London. Arvid has spent the majority of his career focusing on alternative credit and turnaround investing, with extensive involvement within the Offshore and Energy Sector. Experience includes Njord Partners (2013 – present) and Oaktree Capital where he until 2012 was part of the London team within the credit focused Opportunities funds.

Arvid holds an MSc in Finance from Stockholm University.

Director

Bio

Elena Wright serves as a Director of Geoquip Marine, representing shareholder interests and supporting the company’s long-term strategic direction.

As part of the Board she ensures strong governance, continuity and responsible stewardship of the business.

Director

Bio

Peter Østergaard Nielsen has been a legal advisor in the energy industry for over 16 years. Peter has unique knowledge of the offshore wind industry. He has been the principal negotiator in respect of several high-profile, international offshore projects in England, Germany, France, the USA, Taiwan, Japan and Denmark and is one of the preferred legal advisers rendering assistance to international key players within offshore wind. Besides his legal expertise, Peter is valued for his deep commercial understanding of the energy sector and offshore wind in particular. Peter is co-heading the Renewable Energy department at the Danish firm Bech-Bruun with more than 20 lawyers specialized in offshore wind.

Peter holds a Master of Laws (University of Copenhagen) and is admitted to practice law in Denmark.

Deputy Chairperson

Bio

Joanne has over 25 years plc Board experience both as an executive and a non-executive director of large scale global companies, with an extensive background in finance and broad sector experience including energy and maritime. In her previous roles as CFO, Joanne has been highly effective at initiating growth strategies as well as leading operational turnarounds and strengthening performance management, financial controls and governance.

She holds a BCom from Auckland University and is a member of the NZ Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Executive Chairperson

Bio

Stewart has for the past 20 years led a range of diverse companies in the offshore services, shipping and industrials sectors across Europe, the US, Middle East and Asia-Pacific. He joined Geoquip Marine as CFO in 2015 having formerly been a Director with the premier turnaround consultancy in the US, and in 2018 began leading the management team of Geoquip Marine as CEO. In 2022, Stewart became Chairperson on the Board of Directors.

He is a Member of the UK Institute for Turnaround (IFT), the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and a graduate of Business Administration and Finance from Macquarie University, Sydney.

Executive Management

Rune Olav Pedersen

Philipp Martens

Melanie Sheehan

Chris Brandish-Lowe

David Hunter

Ian Hodder

Dennis van den Bulk

Hans Hanse

Jeremy O’Brien

Kai E. Reith

James Miller

Board of Directors

Stewart Higginson

Joanne Curin

Arvid Trolle

Peter Østergaard Nielsen

Elena Wright