Karrie Trauth has been named as Shell's new chief of shipping in a clear-out of the management heads of its three major trading units.

Trauth will takeover from global head of shipping and maritime Grahaeme Henderson when he retires after over 10 years in the top job, media reports said. Staff were informed internally on Wednesday.

TradeWinds has asked Shell for clarification on when Trauth will take up her new position and where she will be based.

Currently general manager shipping and maritime for Shell in the Americas, Trauth has worked with Shell for more than eight years.

A graduate in ocean engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she also has an MBA from Georgetown University.

During her career, Trauth served in the US Navy and has worked with a naval architect and US shipbuilders Ingalls Shipbuilding and Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding.

She has also spent time as a director for the Greater Houston Port Bureau and industry body the Society of International Gas Tanker and Terminal Operators.

Trauth joined Shell as a shipping project manager in Houston in 2012. Between 2014 and 2016 she worked as manager of LNG marine fuel projects in the UK before returning to the US as general manager for shipping, maritime technology and innovation.

Separately, Shell is bringing in Stacie Pitts as head of crude oil trading. Pitts replaces Mark Quartermain who will retire in next summer.

Alice Acuna will become Shell's new head of LNG trading.

The appointments will put three women in charge of key business units within the major's trading organisation.

Last month, Shell UK published its first diversity pay-gap report which included its ethnicity pay gap. The company has reported its gender pay gap — the difference in the average pay and bonuses of all men and women across an organisation — since 2017.

The report showed Shell UK has an average gender pay gap of 18% in 2020, down from 18.7% in 2019 with an average ethnicity pay gap of 8.5%.

“Shell UK has a gender pay gap because we have fewer women than men in senior leadership positions, and fewer women in specialist roles attracting higher levels of pay,” the company said. “Our gender pay gap also reflects wider societal issues such as relatively fewer women studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects at university.”

“Shell UK achieved its ambition to have 30% female senior leaders in the UK by 2020, reaching 32.6% this year. We are on track to grow this to 35% by 2025.”

Tankers

Shell brings in Karrie Trauth as new head of shipping