The Containerization and Intermodal Institute (CII) will award a 2023 Connie Award to Robert F. Sappio, Chief Executive Officer of SeaCube Containers, one of the largest intermodal equipment leasing companies in the world. Sappio will be honored at a dinner gala September 13, 2023, at the Renaissance Hotel in Long Beach, CA.

Sappio was chosen following an industry-wide poll and was announced by CII President, the Honorable Steven Blust.

Sappio joined SeaCube in 2014 as Chief Operating Officer and was promoted to Chief Executive Officer in 2017. In this role, Sappio has cemented SeaCube’s position as one of the world’s leading intermodal equipment lessors with an emphasis on refrigerated equipment solutions.

Robert F. Sappio

Highly regarded for his leadership in the liner shipping field, Sappio has a background of more than 30 years with APL during the time it was developing its modern containership fleet. During his tenure with APL, he held several management positions in Asia and the United States, including Vice President of Greater China, and most recently, Senior Vice President, overseeing all APL activities in the Trans-Pacific, Trans-Atlantic and Latin America. After leaving APL, Bob Sappio was head of North America for Rickmers-Linie and was with the consulting firm of Alvarez & Marsal.

Blust noted: “There are few in our industry with deep background in two of the most significant industry sectors that impact supply chain fluidity—liner shipping and intermodal equipment leasing. CII was founded in 1960 by the major container leasing companies so this award is appropriate,” he said, adding: “We are honored that Bob Sappio will accept the Connie Award.”

Sappio is a graduate of Wagner College in New York City and has completed the Advanced Executive program at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. He is a Life Member of the US Navy Institute and US Naval War College foundation.

CII was founded in 1960 and has been presenting the Connie Award since 1972. It has become the most coveted honor in the field of containerization and its ancillary industries. Among the more than 70 recipients to date are containerization founder Malcom McLean, The Honorable Mario Cordero, William J. “Bill” Shea, Jr., Ron Widdows, Joe Gregorio, the late Evergreen Group Chairman Y. F. Chang, James McKenna, Knud Stubkjaer, John Wolfe, Richard Steinke, Captain S.Y. Kuo, Matthew Cox and Robert Pfeiffer.

At the event, CII will carry out its industry education mission by presenting scholarships to students studying logistics, as well as the institutions that are educating our future leaders. Under its auspices, CII has awarded more than $1 million toward scholarship since 1972.