With the appointment of Anoop Kumar Sharma as new CMD of Shipping Corporation of India Shipping Ministry's hunt reached a conclusive end which began in the March first week this year. Sharma has had a wide experience in operations of shipping sector as the Managing Director of ESSAR Shipping Ltd. The Shipping Ministry had begun the hunt for SCI chief in the first week of March this year. By inviting applications from the private sector also it had made its intent clear in favour of lateral entry. The move of opting Search-cum-selection route and inviting applications from private sector too followed Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari's resolve to hire talent from private sector to turn around the ailing public sector company. In June last year, the Public Enterprises Selection Board had selected BB Sinha, Director (Personnel) SCI for the top post but the ACC had further declined to ratify; though it mandated Sinha to run the affairs of SCI as CMD (Additional charge) till the appointment of a regular incumbent. Capt. Sharma took over from A R Ramakrishnan as whole-time director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Essar Shipping Ltd (ESL) on 25 April 2015. An alumni of Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai and a fellow of Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, London, Sharma is also the member of the Governing council of Narottam Morarjee Institute of Maritime studies. He was previously associated with Shipping Corporation of India for 16 years where he was the Senior Vice President of the Chartering division.