After careful consideration of both internal and external candidates, the Board has decided to appoint Eelco Hoekstra, the current President of Vopak’s Asia Division, as his successor. It is in the Board’s view, that this appointment will be the best guarantee to ensure a successful continuation of Vopak’s current strategy for the coming years.

The proposal is that Eelco Hoekstra will join the Executive Board of Vopak on short notice, and will take over the function of Chairman of the Executive Board on 1 March, 2011. John Paul Broeders will depart the company on this date.

Eelco Hoekstra (1971) has worked for Vopak since 2003. He has been Managing Director of Vopak Horizon Fujairah (UAE), Division President Latin America and is currently, Asia Division President. Previously he helt various senior management positions with tank storage companies, in Asia and South America.

In carrying out his tasks and responsibilities Eelco Hoekstra will be supported by the current Executive Board members of Vopak: Jack de Kreij (CFO), who will become Vice-Chairman of the Executive Board, and Frits Eulderink. By appointing Eelco Hoekstra, the three key disciplines
-commercial, financial and operational- are again represented in a balanced way in the Executive Board. The new Chairman and his colleagues have a wealth of knowledge of and experience in these three domains.

The proposal to appoint Eelco Hoekstra will be presented at an Extraordinary Shareholders Meeting, which will be convened shortly.
The Supervisory Board would like to thank John Paul Broeders for his great contribution to the development of Vopak in recent years and wishes Eelco Hoekstra all the best in his future role.