007 Håkan Svensson, CEO and Owner of Aston Harald

Håkan Svensson is a shipping entrepreneur. He grew up in the shipping industry as his father worked for Kamewa and moved to Singapore with his family when Håkan was a young boy.  Shipping propellers has been dominating Håkans life at least for the last 14 years, when he and his father bought the bankrupt's estate of Bergs Propulsion and developed it into a thriving business with a 25 % market share.  Håkan shares his view on what it means to be a business owner, an innovator and a manager of a shipping supply company on the global arena. He explains the huge consolidation going on among the maritime engine manufacturers, what it means for the shipping industry to be a part of the connected society and how that will attract young people to the industry. Håkan describes the 2008 financial crisis as "walking the plank and not knowing how far you will fall at the end of it, 2 meters or 2 kilometres", and how his father was the anchor with courage and patience to wait for the upturn. Håkans' call to the entire shipping industry is to be cooler! He practice what he preaches and is now totally into sailing, where he is promoting his carbon fibre factory through his company's' acquisition of the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) and the manufacturing of the M32 racing catamaran and the organisation of the M32 Series.  If you like the episode with Håkan Svensson, please give us a review on iTunes; that would really be helpful on our way to the top-ten-list with the Shipping Podcast.