North Carolina Ports has made another move to boost its role in international trade, with the hiring of industry veteran Hans Bean.
 
Bean, a Southport native, was named this week as vice president of trade development for the ports.
 
“We are excited about the positive momentum radiating throughout the organization right now and I believe Hans’ appointment is another encouraging sign that we are moving in the right direction,” said ports executive director Paul J. Cozza in a news release. “Hans’ key leadership roles within the industry will prove valuable as we continue to reclaim the North Carolina market.”
 
Bean brings more than two decades of expertise in the maritime industry back to North Carolina, having worked in shipping, supply chain and logistics, key client management and port business development among other related experience.
 
He served as a senior director for APM Terminals, North America, where he developed new, profitable revenue streams and helped increase North American terminal activity by more than 10 percent.
 
Bean also spent 10 years working with Maersk Line in a variety of capacities, including as director of maritime business development.
 
“As a graduate of South Brunswick High School, I am extremely excited to join the ranks at North Carolina Ports and make a positive impact on the Cape Fear Region,” Bean said in a news release this week. “The recently expanded capabilities and capacity at our Port of Wilmington gives our Business Development Department the ability to achieve new levels of competitiveness, thus broadening our reach.”
 
After graduating high school in the Cape Fear region, Bean studied at the United States Merchant Marine Academy and then the University of London.
 
It’s been a year of growth for the Port of Wilmington.
 
The new Queen City Express, an intermodal rail service between the port and CSX’s intermodal terminal in Charlotte, should be running by the end of the year, according to port officials. The Express will be the only direct freight rail service into the greater Charlotte area from a North Carolina port.
 
Last month, the port signed off on a new partnership with Mediterranean Shipping Company and Maersk Line with the addition of the TP10 all-water Asia-U.S. East Coast container service at the Wilmington port. The TP10’s rotation includes port calls in Qingdao, Xingang, Ningbo, Shanghai and Busan in Asia. The agreement came to fill the void left by the Hanjin bankruptcy last summer, when that shipping company went out of business.
 
Last summer the port expanded its turning basin in the Cape Fear River, which meant the larger post-Panamax vessels can now call on the Port of Wilmington.