OREANDA-NEWS. Kansas City Southern (KCS) (NYSE: KSU) has named Erik B. Hansen vice president intermodal. Mr. Hansen is responsible for intermodal sales and marketing and intermodal and automotive operations. He is based in Kansas City and reports to executive vice president sales and marketing Patrick J. Ottensmeyer.

"We are delighted that Erik has joined the KCS management team," said Mr. Ottensmeyer. "He brings a wealth of experience and leadership across a wide spectrum, including sales, marketing, operations and finance. His expertise in the Mexican intermodal market, in particular, fits very well with KCS' strategic focus."

Mr. Hansen joins KCS after more than 25 years in leadership positions at A.P. Moller-Maersk and affiliated companies. Most recently, he served as managing director of Maersk Line Middle America, where he managed an organization of 200 people in six countries. Prior to that, Mr. Hansen served as country and regional chief financial officer for subsidiaries in A.P. Moller - Maersk in the Far East and later in Latin America. In each of these roles, he developed and executed growth and efficiency improvement strategies in a multi-cultural environment.

Mr. Hansen holds a graduate diploma in business administration - financial and management accounting from Copenhagen Business School, and has taken courses at IMD in Switzerland, the Columbia Business School in New York, DTU Executive School of Business in Denmark and the A.P. Moller Shipping Academy. He served as a non-commissioned officer in the Royal Danish Army Artillery.

Headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., KCS is a transportation holding company that has railroad investments in the U.S., Mexico and Panama. Its primary U.S. holding is The Kansas City Southern Railway Company, serving the central and south central U.S. Its international holdings include Kansas City Southern de Mexico, S.A. de C.V., serving northeastern and central Mexico and the port cities of LЁўzaro CЁўrdenas, Tampico and Veracruz, and a 50 percent interest in Panama Canal Railway Company, providing ocean-to-ocean freight and passenger service along the Panama Canal. KCS' North American rail holdings and strategic alliances are primary components of a NAFTA Railway system, linking the commercial and industrial centers of the U.S., Mexico and Canada.