ABOUT
Neil Papenfus has 30 years’ experience in the maritime industry, nearly half of which has been spent in senior leadership and strategic management roles. A global citizen, and Zimbabwean born, Neil worked in South Africa, Hong Kong and New Zealand before taking up a position with Port Services Ltd with the Steamships Group and relocating to Papua New Guinea with his family in 2007.
Neil’s leadership at Port Services and then Joint Venture Port Services, which employed in excess of 1,000 staff, resulted in profitability increases of 24 percent and substantial improvements in workplace safety and productivity.
In 2014 he was appointed to the General Manager position of another Steamships’ business, Pacific Towing. Neil’s key achievements as Pacific Towing’s GM include revenue increases of 50 percent, workforce nationalisation (98 percent), enhanced workplace safety, and marine services market leadership in not just PNG but broader Melanesia.
Neil is well known for the gender equality initiatives he implemented at Pacific Towing, including the Women in Maritime scholarship programme and Gender Smart Safety. He continues to champion numerous gender equality initiatives throughout PNG’s business community and is a long term director of the PNG Business Coalition for Women. In March 2024, Neil was appointed as the CEO of PNG Ports Corporation Ltd.