PRESS RELEASE – Crowley Maritime Corporation has announced that Ray Fitzgerald will rejoin the company March 1 as Chief Operating Officer (COO). He will report to Tom Crowley, company chairman and CEO, and will be based at the company’s headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida. 

Fitzgerald began his career with Crowley in 1987 and spent 13 years with the company before he made the transition to Wallenius Wilhelmsen, where he served in executive management positions of various Wallenius Wilhelmsen brands. Most recently, he served as president and chief operating officer of Wallenius Wilhelmsen Solutions and chairman of American Roll-on Roll-off Carrier (ARC), a U.S.-based Wallenius Wilhelmsen company.

After nearly 20 years at Wallenius Wilhelmsen, Fitzgerald now returns to Crowley Maritime where he will lead the team of Crowley’s four senior vice presidents and general managers: Rocky Smith of Crowley Fuels,  Rob Grune of Crowley Shipping, Steve Collar of Crowley Logistics and Shiju Zacharia of Crowley Solutions.

“I am extremely pleased to add Ray to our team to help me with our growth and development of talent”, said Tom 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.”

While the corporate reporting structure is changing within the company, responsibilities are not. “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.”

Fitzgerald left Wallenius Wilhelmsen Solutions in June last year. He was succeeded by Mike Hynekamp as PCJ previously reported here.