Drew Marine, a division of Ashland Specialty Chemical Company, recently announced two promotions in its Boonton, N.J., headquarters.
Ron Ieva, who has held positions at Drew Marine as senior product manager, area manager for the Southeast and Caribbean, and cruise industry business manager, has been promoted to regional sales manager for the Americas. Mike Cassaras, who has been southeast and Caribbean area manager and
regional sales manager for the Americas, will now assume global responsibility as business manager for Drew Marine Safety.
Ieva, a 30-year veteran of the maritime industry, graduated from Maritime Trades High School, US Navy Submarine School, and holds a
BSME from the Marine Maritime Academy.
After attending the University of Florida, Cassaras began his career in the marine industry in 1975. Prior to his positions at Drew, he was President and Founder of Atlas Marine Services, Inc. in Miami, Fla. He is a member of the Hellenic American Chamber of Commerce.
Cassaras will report to Paul DeVivo, vice president and general manager of Drew Marine, and Ieva will report to Dan Kelleher,
vice president sales.
"We recognize these two growth areas - one in the product area, marine safety, and the other in the Americas geography," says DeVivo. "With these changes, we believe that we will have added
management capabilities to meet our growing customers' needs in these two critical areas."
Cassaras' Drew Marine Safety division consists of
fire safety and rescue equipment, and safety monitoring equipment, including complete
selection of monitoring equipment for detecting potential hazards, such as smoke, heat and toxic gases, as well as clothing and self-contained air-breathing apparatus to protect a crew when hazards do occur. Firefighting equipment, supplies and internationally approved extinguishers with powder, AFFF foam, water and CO2, and a full range of lifesaving and rescue equipment, protective clothing, life rafts and jackets, immersion suits, and medical apparatus for minimizing injury and loss of life in emergencies is also part of the product line.
Ieva's responsibility includes not only managing the service and sales functions for North and South America, but he will also be
responsible for overseeing the implementation of Drew Marine's worldwide strategies for the cruise industry.