Crowley Maritime Corp. has appointed Ray Fitzgerald as chief operations officer (COO) to supervise the company’s leadership and performance, effective March 1st, Crowley announced on Thursday.
“I am extremely pleased to add Ray to our team to help me with our growth and development of talent,” said Crowley. “Ray brings CEO-level experience from a family-owned company that has experienced a similar business transformation, and he is a strong believer in our culture and values.”
In his new role, Fitzgerald will supervise the team of Crowley’s four senior vice presidents and general managers: Rocky Smith, Crowley Fuels; Rob Grune, Crowley Shipping; Steve Collar, Crowley Logistics; and Shiju Zacharia, Crowley Solutions.
Fitzgerald began his career with Crowley in 1987 and served as vice president and general manager until 2000. He most recently served as president and chief operating officer of Wallenius Wilhelmsen Solutions in a variety of senior leadership roles, including president, executive vice president and chief operations officer between 2000 and 2019.
With Wallenius Wilhelmsen, Fitzgerald supervised the operations of global transportation and logistics, specializing in Ocean Transportation, Terminal Operations, Vehicle Processing Services, Inland Transportation and Supply Chain Services.
He additionally managed the land based operations where he helped process logistics services for more than six million vehicles per annum. He also served as president and CEO of American Roll-on-Roll-off Carrier, and president and COO of American Shipping and Logistics (ASL) group between Nov. 2007 and July 2011.
Fitzgerald also currently serves as chairman of ARC Group’s Board of Directors. He has been in this role since Jan. 2015. He has also been recognized by United Seamen’s Service in 2018 with the prestigious Admiral of the Ocean Sea (AOTOS) award.
“I am not going anywhere or changing my role,” said Crowley. “Rather I am looking to augment my leadership with additional insights, experiences and outside perspectives. I'm going to remain highly engaged while growing the company.”
About Crowley
Jacksonville-based Crowley Holdings Inc., a holding company of the 128-year-old Crowley Maritime Corporation, is a privately held family- and employee-owned company that provides marine solutions, energy and logistics services in domestic and international markets.
