Safmarine provides a ‘brand’ new experience for MISE graduate

Ray Smuts SONJA HOLLOWAY is not given to letting opportunities go by so when Maersk Sealand beckoned she responded with alacrity and the rest is history. Not only has hard work and application paid off for Holloway, a graduate of the Maersk International Shipping and Education Programme (M.I.S.E.), but she now finds herself in her first management position as bookings and quotes manager for Safmarine. Looking back on what many would consider a chance in a lifetime - spending two years on and off at the M.I.S.E. training facility in Copenhagen - the slender brunette remarks: “What is encouraging is that Maersk as a company is willing to invest in its people which is a huge risk financially and commercially so one has to put shoulder to the wheel and make sure one passes one’s exams.” Intra-Africa pricing Starting out on a low rung at Renfreight Forwarding in her home town of Port Elizabeth, where she also obtained a diploma in cost and management accounting, Holloway joined Maersk in Johannesburg in 1998, involved with intra-Africa pricing. Two years later Maersk posted her to Singapore where she worked in junior management focusing on marketing and economy for the principal A.P.Moller. Thereafter she was offered her present position at Safmarine House in Cape Town reporting to Cape regional executive Barbara van Rensburg. Heading a “highly energised” team of eight, her department represents the interface between customers and operations. As former Maersk southern Africa m.d. Peter Ehrenreich once commented, there lies a difference in the Maersk Sealand and Safmarine business cultures and Holloway agrees with this perception.”I find that invigorating because by moving from one to another you are out of your comfort zone and have to stretch and be innovative to make sure you reach the agreed targets.” From her perspective there are plenty of “highs” at Safmarine - “we see the goal and are getting there.” Her husband of four years, David, is also a Safmariner involved in reefer service delivery. ‘Changing brands is an invigorating experience’