Hans Hvide News

Port Everglades Towing in January celebrated its 43rd year of service to Port Everglades and Broward County. The company is a division of Hvide Marine, Inc., which was recently renamed Seabulk International, Inc. Founded on Jan. 23, 1958 by the late Hans Hvide and three partners, Port Everglades Towing began its franchised operation with two tugs. At the time, there were fewer than a thousand ship calls a year (fewer than three a day) at Port Everglades, and the port's annual revenues had just topped $1 million. Today, by comparison, Port Everglades receives nearly 6,000 ship calls a year (about 16 a day); has annual revenues of more than $75 million, and services nearly three million cruise passengers annually.

J. Erik Hvide Steps Down Hvide Marine named Jean Fitzgerald chairman, president and chief executive officer, replacing J. Erik Hvide, who resigned for personal reasons. Hvide will remain a member of the board of directors, the company said. Fitzgerald, 73, has been a director of the company since 1994. He will take up his position immediately, it said. Hvide, 50, steps down from active duty after 29 years of service with the company, which was founded by his father, Hans Hvide, in 1958.