Mr. Michel Hennemand receives BIC Award
April 16th, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BIC is pleased to announce that Mr. Michel Hennemand, former chairman of BIC and leading expert in container standardization, is this year’s recipient of the prestigious BIC Award.
The award was presented at the BIC headquarters in Paris on the 11th of December 2024. The presentation ceremony was conducted by BIC Chairman Lars Lorenzen and Secretary General Douglas Owen. The BIC Award, established in 2013, recognizes individuals and organizations for their outstanding contributions to the container shipping industry, particularly in the areas of safety, security, sustainability, and standardization—the four pillars of BIC’s mission.
In selecting Mr. Hennemand, the BIC Board of Directors emphasized his commitment to the development of global container standards, his leadership in the container shipping industry, and his dedication to the promotion of standardization and safety throughout the supply chain.
Michel Hennemand has been active in container safety and standards for more than five decades, serving in various leadership roles. He has worked tirelessly on container standardization, as chairman of ISO TC 104 SC1 and of the National Transport Commission at AFNOR (France). As chairman of the Bureau International des Containers (BIC), Michel Hennemand played an instrumental role in advancing the organization’s mission and driving the global dialogue on container safety and innovation. He currently serves as an ISO consultant for BIC, continuing to contribute his expertise to further enhance the organization’s work in the development of international standards.
“The BIC Award goes to someone who is living the values of BIC—the 4S: standardization, safety, security, and sustainability. Michel spent his entire career in most of these categories, embodying these principles throughout his professional life,” said Lars Lorenzen, Chairman of BIC.
“If anybody deserves the BIC Award for his contribution to standardization, it is Michel Hennemand. It is hard to imagine the BIC over these last many years without his leadership and support.” said BIC Secretary General Douglas Owen.
Before his tenure at BIC, Michel Hennemand began his career in 1969 as the Manager of the Technical Department at Bignier-Schmid-Laurent, a European leader in the manufacture of road tankers and tank containers. His expertise in transport equipment manufacturing later led him to positions at Consant Engineering PTY Ltd in South Africa, where he became the Director of the Paris Office, and at Magyar.SA, where he directed the Combined Transport Department. He ultimately joined Bureau Veritas as Director of the Transport Department, where he spent over 20 years shaping industry standards and regulatory frameworks.
“Even today, BIC continues to play a crucial role in the field of standards, particularly in the area of data,” said Michel Hennemand upon receiving the award. “We can be sure that in the coming years, BIC will confirm its position as a key player in the field of transport. Once again, I would like to thank the BIC for the honor bestowed upon me, and in particular the General Secretaries Bertrand Geoffray and Douglas Owen, who have been and continue to be the key figures in our organization, without whom nothing would have been possible.”
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About BIC
The Bureau International des Containers (BIC) was founded under the auspices of the International Chamber of Commerce in 1933 as a neutral, non-profit, international organization. The BIC seeks to promote efficiency, safety, security, standardization, and sustainability in the container supply chain and today has over 2800 container owning and operating members in 128 countries. Publisher of the BIC Code Register since 1970, the BIC also operates the BoxTech Global Container Database (bic-boxtech.org), providing API-accessible equipment details to help improve efficiency and safety in the supply chain, as well as the BIC Facility Code Database, providing harmonized codes to identify over 17,000 container facilities in 190 countries. The BIC also operates the Global ACEP Database under the guidance of the IMO. The BIC holds official observer status as an NGO at the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the World Customs Organization (WCO), and the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) and works closely with the ISO and other standards organizations. Learn more at www.bic-code.org.