Crowley Organizational Changes

Crowley Maritime Corporation has made several organizational changes within its contract services and marine operations groups. John Ara has been named vice president, contract services, and Chris Peterson has been named vice president, marine operations, both reporting to  John Douglass, senior vice president and general manager, Atlantic and Gulf services and Rocky Smith, senior vice president and general manager, Pacific and West Coast services.

In his new role, Ara will remain in Houston and will assume combined responsibility for all contract and project work including jobs on the east coast, west coast, gulf coast and in Alaska. 

Ara who most recently served the company as vice president Atlantic/Gulf coast commercial and marine operations will now implement project management and all associated responsibilities including sales and contract administration. This will include projects in support of the oil industry such as summer sealift work as well as work in the Russian Far East.

Ara is a 30-year Crowley veteran who began his career working as a dispatcher in San Pedro, Calif. He has held positions of increasing responsibility and high visibility throughout his career with Crowley, including time spent in San Juan, Puerto Rico as sales manager and in recent years he has had a large role in the company's Sakhalin Island and Angola sealift projects. Ara was the recipient of the 2000 Thomas Crowley Trophy, the company's highest honor.

Supporting Ara in this new role and reporting directly to him are Jim Shettig, vice president, contract sales; Kevin Homan, director, contract services; Mike Griglione, director, contract development and administration; Jim Macaulay, director, special projects; Ryan Galloway, project manager in Seattle; Danil Bogomazov, manager, contracts and billing in Sakhalin, and Andrey Budich, manager, marine operations in Sakhalin.   

Additionally, Chris Peterson has been named vice president, marine operations.  In his new role, Peterson will split his time between the west and gulf coasts and will assume additional operational responsibility for gulf coast marine operations in support of project cargo, contract services, harbor services and oil field/energy support including utilization of the new fleet of heavy lift barges.  Under the new structure, Eric Vizier, manager of marine operations, in Lake Charles, and Jim Daley, director of operations integrity, in Houston will report to Peterson.

Prior to this new assignment, Peterson served the company as vice president, west coast services.  He began his career with Crowley in 1986 sailing out of Seattle as a second mate on a tugboat. He was promoted to port captain in 1993, relocated to San Francisco and began his shore side career with Crowley. Two years later, Peterson relocated to Houston and started working in the commercial sector as an account executive for marine contract services. After a series of promotions in the commercial sector, he was promoted to general manager and moved to the Pacific Northwest in late 2002, to concentrate on Crowley's outside towing and marine contract services. He was appointed director of marine operations in 2005, and vice president, West Coast services in 2007, which gave him operational and commercial responsibility for ship assist and tanker escort services as well as Crowley's contract services. Peterson was awarded the 2007 Thomas Crowley Trophy Award.

Scott Hoggarth, general manager, ship assist and escort services will report to Smith, directing the commercial aspects of the business in all west coast ports served by Crowley.

(www.crowley.com)