Appointments
JULIEN PRÉVEL APPOINTED CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF SOGET
Julien Prével has taken up the post of Chief Executive Officer at SOGET, succeeding Hervé Cornède.
He joined the Le Havre-based company in 2005, having started his career at Bolloré Logistics. At SOGET, he held a number of successive roles: sales manager, product manager and head of information systems. In 2016, he took charge of Human Resources. A member of the Executive Board since 2018, he has contributed to the reorganisation of the company and the industrialisation of software production within the Software Factory.
He holds an MBA in Business Management from the University of Edinburgh and a DESS in International Business and Marketing from the University of Le Havre Normandy. Julien Prével has demonstrated throughout his career an ability to balance strategic and operational responsibilities, with particular expertise in digital transformation and the optimisation of internal processes.
He will continue to drive SOGET’s growth and international expansion, whilst consolidating the teams and ensuring the continuity of operational excellence. “It is with humility and a sense of solemnity that I have accepted this appointment. My career at SOGET is, above all, the result of a journey alongside an incredibly talented team of which I am very proud,” he said. UMEP wishes him every success in his new role and looks forward to forging closer ties in the future.
PAUL PATHY NEW CHAIRMAN OF BIMCO
To mark its 120th anniversary on 14 May 2025, BIMCO elected its President. Paul Pathy succeeded Nikolaus Schües, who will, however, remain on the Board of Directors of the international shipowners’ association.
Paul Pathy is CEO of Fednav Limited, a family-owned business and Canada’s largest dry bulk shipping company. He joined the company in 2003 and held various roles before co-managing it with his brother in 2010, following their father’s retirement. In 2016, the family decided that he would take sole charge of the company’s management.
“I am honoured to have the opportunity to represent our sector and to take the helm of such a historic organisation,” he said. This is his next major challenge, which he is determined to rise to.
BIMCO has also elected Ioanna Procopiou as President. She will succeed Paul Pathy in two years’ time. She is also CEO of Prominence Maritime, a major family-owned shipping company specialising in dry bulk.
XAVIER DUCEPT APPOINTED SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR MARITIME AFFAIRS
The Council of Ministers meeting on 16 April 2025 appointed the new Secretary-General for Maritime Affairs, following weeks of anticipation. Xavier Ducept thus succeeds Prefect Didier Lallement, who retired at the end of 2024. This is the first time that a gendarme, rather than a prefect, has held this post.
A former adviser to the cabinet of the Minister of Defence, Jean-Yves Le Drian, from 2014 to 2017, and subsequently Commander of the Gendarmerie in Réunion from 2017 to 2019, he took up the post of Chief of Staff to Annick Girardin in the
Overseas Territories and subsequently at the Ministry of the Sea until the end of 2020. He handed over his post to his deputy, François Lambert, in 2021 to take command of the Gendarmerie in the Île-de-France region. Promoted to General of the Army, he took up the post of Government Adviser on Defence on 1 December 2024.
The General Secretariat for Maritime Affairs had been headed by Rear Admiral Pierre Rialland, Deputy Secretary-General for Maritime Affairs, since early 2025. Reporting to the Prime Minister, the General Secretariat for Maritime Affairs is responsible for formulating, driving and coordinating the Government’s maritime policy.
HERVÉ CORNÈDE APPOINTED DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS AT GEODIS
Hervé Cornède has left Soget and taken up the post of Director of Public Affairs and member of the Executive Committee at Geodis.
He will represent and promote the interests of the SNCF Group company in France and abroad, operating across four business areas: international freight forwarding, global contract logistics, distribution and express transport, and the European road network. He will also work alongside senior management to “support the strategic plan through to 2027 and achieve the Group’s growth targets”.
This role is based in the Paris region, so he has left Porte Océane, where he joined in 2009 as Sales and Marketing Director and a member of the Executive Board of the Grand Port Maritime du Havre (GPMH).
He was involved in the creation of the GIE HAROPA Port, which brings together the ports along the Seine Corridor (Le Havre, Rouen and Paris).
In 2014, he became a French Foreign Trade Adviser, with a remit to promote and support the internationalisation of French businesses. He then joined Soget in 2018 as Chairman of the Executive Board. A graduate with a Master’s degree in International Transport and Logistics from Paris 1 Sorbonne, he has over 30 years’ experience in the sector. The UMEP wishes him every success in his new role.
Sources: Le Marin 17 April 2025 / Mer et Marine 22 April 2025 / Voxlog / Ports et Corridors 17 April 2025 / Soget press release 14 April 2025
