The new Vice President of CILT NZ

Hi, for those of you that don’t know me, I’m Suhail. I’m a person who pays careful attention to what you have to say. My colleagues say that I’m a good listener, that speaks at the right time and get the job done. I’m not afraid to say what everyone is thinking but writing about myself is a bit out of my comfort zone.

A handful of you will know a bit about my background if you have been on a recent tour of the Ports of Auckland. I spent much of the first 15 years of my life on ships thanks to my (late) dad who was a Captain and my (late) mum who made sure I kept up with my schoolwork while we sailed across the seas.

I learned a lot over those years and through the travels met people from many different cultures and places. I was lucky to learn first-hand about vessel operations on various types of ships. One particular experience which has stuck in my mind was a man-overboard drill. Let’s say I was thankful it was only a drill. I also experienced gale force 12 storms, where the wave height exceeded 14 metres and prayed on bended knees that our ship made it through. My parents decided to move to New Zealand in the late 90s and that’s when Auckland became home. I attended secondary school and university in Auckland. And after completing my Bachelor in Commerce, I followed on with postgrad studies in operations management and supply chain/logistics.

Long before Ports of Auckland, I started at UTI (now part of DSV). Around this time, I met Keith Robinson at a CILT function and before I knew it, I was Chair of the under-35 Auckland chapter. My career took me on to DHL Global Forwarding where I was given many opportunities to work across the air and sea freight business and develop my leadership skills – I was fortunate to lead some awesome people in both office and warehouse teams. A few years on, I moved to Kuehne + Nagel to manage their New Zealand sea freight department. An opportunity to undertake an Executive MBA at Melbourne Business School took me across the ditch where I was the State Manager for Sea & Airfreight (across a few states) and managed a branch in Melbourne.

It’s been nearly five years working at Ports of Auckland and boy am I enjoying it. I’ve been blessed with opportunities for growth and am

Suhail Sequeira

Suhail joined Ports of Auckland in 2018. His role encompasses commercial engagement across cargo owners, shipping lines, freight forwarders, road and rail transport suppliers, industry associations, government agencies, and supply chain optimisation projects. As an experienced logistics and supply chain professional for close to 20 years, he has provided supply chain solutions across FMCG Retail, fresh and cold chain produce, automotive, pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, and military defence.

thankful to the Port for nominating me for the NZ Leadership Program. It has also been a time of lots of challenges for the port and the supply chain industry in general. But out of the challenge comes the opportunity to improve. Now, more than ever, we are aware of the effects of global warming and our responsibility to reduce carbon emissions in our supply chains. I have had the opportunity to design a carbon calculator that informs importers and exporters of their carbon emissions for different routing options for the North Island – enabling them to make informed decisions relating to their scope 3 emissions. I’ve also been involved in setting up and developing inland freight hubs –another initiative aimed at improving logistical efficiencies and reducing emissions.

These days, a large part of my role is rebuilding relationships with various stakeholders across the country by having regular catchups on port performance. We know we need a resilient New Zealand supply chain that functions through disruptions not only caused by a global pandemic, but also by climate change. Being a small island nation at the end of the earth, we are dependent on sea and air ports. At the basic level, our road and rail systems need to be resilient and reliable for the movement of freight to and from our ports as well as get our people to/ from work. We need to re-think our domestic networks and consider, strategic freight corridors on certain roads and rail which can scale as the demand increases.

I’m passionate about supply chain and logistics, a bit of a perfectionist (sometimes) and enjoy seeing a job through to completion. Above all, I enjoy playing golf, tennis, squash, cricket and watching sci-fi (Star Wars / Star Trek anyone?). Now you know who I am, so why not get in touch? I’d love to meet you.