Palle Laursen 

Palle Laursen, Executive Vice President and Head of Marine for Royal Caribbean Group (RCG), oversees the company’s global and brand marine operations. RCG’s portfolio includes the industry’s three leading cruise brands, Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea; as well as a joint venture in Tui Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, of which the company is a 50% owner. RCG’s global fleet of 68 ships sails to all seven continents propelled by nearly 100,000 employees from more than 130 countries.   

 Most recently, Palle was Chief Fleet & Technical Officer at A.P. Moller-Maersk where he was responsible for its entire fleet of more than 750 container vessels, 400 chartered vessels, and 350 owned vessels as well as chartering, technical management, crew management, safety and compliance, newbuilding activities and engineering services. He also led Maersk’s effort to have the entire fleet operating fully carbon neutral by 2040.   

While at Moller-Maersk, Palle was also vice president and head of Ship Management and held several other roles with increasing responsibilities, including head of Technical Services, Ship Engineering and Technical Vessel Operations at the Maersk Group. Palle has had a long and distinguished career and is a recognized leader in the maritime industry.  

 Palle graduated from the Svendborg International Maritime Academy in Denmark as a Marine Engineer.