Seafarers’ House at Port Everglades, Fla., has announced the recipients of its 2002 International Golden Compass Award. Alan Kehrer, director of cruise marketing for Port Everglades, and the late Carl Thorsen of Eller & Company, will both be honored for their joint efforts and accomplishments to develop Port Everglades as one of the world’s leading cruise ports. A gala dinner to present the awards will be held in Fort Lauderdale on April 13, 2002.
Kehrer began his professional career in 1963 with American Export Lines. In 1972, he joined the Business Development staff of Port Everglades. When Port Everglades began its business diversification plan in 1976, Kehrer emerged as its Manager of Passenger Development. He has been honored with a
Lifetime Achievement Award by Cruise Lines International Association (2001), and the individual achievement award of the Gran Prix Mondial du Voyage (1990).
Thorsen joined Eller & Company in1954. Thorsen and Kehrer teamed up 12 years later to travel the world, meeting with cruise line executives to promote their vision of Port Everglades as a unique asset available to an expanding cruise industry. In 1994, Mr. Thorsen officially retired after 40 years of service to Eller & Company, but remained a senior consultant on cruise activities until he died at the age of 74. He was a founding member of the Port Everglades Association and a past President of the Propeller Club at Port Everglades.
When Alan Kehrer first met Carl Thorsen in 1966, the commerce of Port Everglades was dominated by petroleum. Its cruise business was limited to a few port calls by New York-based ships en route to the Caribbean. The time Thorsen died in 1998, Port Everglades was the embarkation port of choice for more cruise lines than any
other port worldwide. Kehrer, 59, will retire next year after 30 years of service to Port Everglades, and will do so at a time when the port’s cruise business has become its largest revenue generator.
The International Golden Compass Award was first bestowed in 1997 to Hans J. Hvide, founder of Hvide Marine, Inc. Since then, recipients have included John Bowers, President of the International Longshoremen’s Association (1998); Kirk Lanterman, Chairman and CEO of Holland
America Line-Westours (1999); Tom Crowley Jr., Chairman and CEO of Crowley Maritime Corporation (2000) and Cliff Berry Sr., founder of Cliff Berry Inc. (2001). The award is made in recognition of outstanding contributions to the maritime industry.