Sultan Al Shene

Born in Beirut in 1954, maritime trade was already in the family. Childhood passed among harbour warehouses, customs papers, and the scent of the Mediterranean.

As conflict approached in the early 1970s, Sultan Al Shene was still a young man. With limited capital and his father's counsel — that the sea is the sea everywhere — the course was set toward the United Kingdom.

Sultan Al Shene arrived in Aberdeen, one of the hardest arenas in North Sea fishing. Early years meant learning the work from the ground up alongside local crews.

Scottish shrimp was then undervalued locally. Drawing on Mediterranean market instinct, Sultan Al Shene saw export potential and built trust through honesty and steady work ethic, fitting an early blast-freezing store behind Aberdeen Harbour.

Through the mid-1980s the business grew. Sultan Al Shene developed direct routes for Scottish shrimp toward restaurants and buyers in Southern Europe and the Middle East, expanding processing capacity.

Sultan Al Shene recalls: "The Scots taught me how to stand against the storm in those freezing waters. I showed them how to present that red treasure from their nets to the world as a jewel."

Cold-chain discipline kept quality steady so product could reach distant tables within about forty-eight hours.

After consolidating operations, Sultan Al Shene returned to Beirut and married Layla. Their children — including Rashid, Abdullah, Maya, Karim and Tariq — learned the business from the factory floor.

Today Rashid leads logistics and day-to-day operations. Other siblings contribute across technology, markets, and regional growth in Ireland and Scandinavia — under the umbrella of Al Shene Marine Holding.

Today Sultan Al Shene, Founder & CEO of Al Shene Marine Holding, divides time at Exchange Plaza, Edinburgh EH3 9SR — and Beirut. Rashid steers daily operations while the holding continues seafood, cold-chain, and export work across the North Sea, Ireland, and Scandinavia.