SINGAPORE, October 5 — Ocean Network Express will consolidate its East Asia and South Asia regional headquarters into a single Asia Pacific hub in Singapore and shift management of most African markets to Dubai, effective April 1, 2027. The new Asia Pacific Regional Headquarters will oversee operations across 15 markets and be led by Louis Tang, who will become Region Head, Asia Pacific. This restructuring combines functions previously split between Hong Kong and Singapore, giving Singapore a substantially larger role in ONE’s regional management.
Simultaneously, ONE will centralize management of East, West and South Africa under its Dubai regional headquarters, while London retains responsibility for Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa. Dubai is not a new base for ONE; the carrier established its West Asia Regional Headquarters there in 2024, covering the Indian Subcontinent, Middle East and East Africa.
The latest change extends Dubai’s responsibility further across Africa. ONE stated the organizational changes will not immediately alter services, customer contracts or daily operations, with local teams remaining the main point of contact. Existing employees will continue in current roles under the new structures while functions are aligned in phases.
The restructuring supports ONE’s wider ONE 2030 strategy focused on sustainable growth and strengthening its position in global container shipping. ONE, headquartered in Singapore, operates more than 280 vessels with total capacity exceeding 2.2 million TEU and provides services to more than 120 countries.
The changes follow a series of organizational updates, including the April 2026 management structure that placed regional leadership alongside global executive functions. Tang noted combining the regional headquarters would provide a more comprehensive view of Asia Pacific and allow faster response to changing conditions. Sundeep Sibal, ONE’s Region Head for West Asia, said Dubai already manages a large share of Africa’s trade with Asia, India and the Middle East, and bringing more African markets under the same management will allow better coordination of services and capacity across the wider corridor.
ONE’s CEO, Till Ole Barrelet, described Asia Pacific and Africa as important growth regions and said the restructuring aims to speed up regional decision making while supporting further investment. The announcement gives ONE almost six months to prepare before the April 2027 implementation date.
