Minerva Bunkering Appoints Tyler Baron as CEO

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Thursday April 25, 2019

Tyler Baron, the man that set Aegean Marine on its path to becoming Minerva Bunkering, has been appointed its Chief Executive Officer effective immediately.

Baron will be based in Geneva, and will oversee Minerva's global business operations across Europe, the Americas and Asia.

"Given Tyler's history with and dedication to the company, as well as his breadth of experience in financial markets and capital allocation, he is the ideal candidate to lead Minerva Bunkering," said Magid Shenouda, Global Head of Trading at Mercuria.

"Through his leadership the new Minerva is positioned for success through a customer centric global platform and dedicated team of employees. As we continue strengthening our business, we are confident that Tyler and the Minerva team will execute on the Company's strategic vision, provide best-in-class solutions to our customers and deliver value for our shareholders."

Baron came into the bunkering spotlight at the end of 2017, leading a group of shareholders in the former Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. who were openly critical of its incumbent management.

After a tough 2018 that included the need for Aegean to enter a Chapter 11 restructuring process and look for new financial backing, the independent bunker supplier, at one time the world's largest, emerged as Minerva Bunkering earlier this month.

"Minerva will play a role in the transition of the marine fuels market, which is undergoing significant structural change, accelerated by the introduction of IMO 2020," said Baron.

"As part of Mercuria, Minerva Bunkering is one of the industry's most credit-worthy counterparties, leveraging a global physical supply network and sales organization with the risk-management, structured finance, and trading capabilities of Mercuria. I look forward to capitalizing on the significant progress we have been able to achieve and increasing the value we deliver to our clients and partners."

Read More: Interview With Aegean: From the Brink of Liquidation to Ambitions of Growth