The American Maritime Partnership (AMP), the voice of the domestic maritime industry, announced the election of new leadership for the organization. Michael Roberts becomes the new president, with Matt Woodruff as vice president alongside Ku’u Park as treasurer and Matthew Paxton as secretary.
Roberts is a Crowley Maritime Corp. senior vice president. He has represented Crowley on government matters since joining the company’s Washington, D.C., office in 1991. He has more than 30 years of experience in Washington, both in house and with law and lobbying firms.
Woodruff, vice president of public and government affairs for Kirby Corp., completed his two-year term as AMP president and moved to the vice president role.
Park, vice president of government and community relations for the Matson Navigation Co., and Paxton, president of the Shipbuilders Council of America, will continue their roles as AMP treasurer and secretary, respectively. Elected officers hold their positions for two-year terms.
AMP’s membership spans the United States and its territories and includes a broad representation of vessel owners and operators, shipbuilders and repair yards, dredging and marine construction contractors, trade associations and pro-defense groups.
BIMCO, the world’s largest international shipping association, has announced that David Loosley will serve as secretary general and CEO, effective in June.
Loosley has led the Institute of Marine Engineering Science & Technology (IMarEST), the international membership body for marine professionals, for the last eight years.
“We are delighted to have found a successor who can continue to build on the excellent work carried out by Angus Frew in positioning BIMCO as the world’s largest international shipping association,” BIMCO President Sadan Kaptanoglu said.
Loosley previously ran operations at the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office and chaired the Digital Geospatial Information Working Group. He also served at sea for 10 years in the U.K. Royal Navy.
Frew previously announced that he will be stepping down in the summer after leading BIMCO for seven years.
BOLT System, a fleet management and freight tracking software company based in Nashville, Tennessee, has named Rich Kurtz as its new director of national accounts.
Kurtz will be responsible for new business development and client care with BOLT’s major accounts. He also will integrate new supplier partnerships within the company. Kurtz was previously a national account manager at Trimble Transportation.
BOLT System President Gayle Robertson said Kurtz “has been in the trucking industry for nearly 20 years and understands the needs of fleets — he’s a great match for what we offer. We’re continuing to grow at a double-digit clip and bringing on Rich will help us better serve our customers with our industry leading cloud-based fleet management platform.”
The company recently launched its BOLT Tandem Workflow app.
Miami-based Commercial Jet has hired R. Rick Townsend as vice president of sales and marketing. Townsend brings to Commercial Jet over 35 years of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) industry experience, including senior roles with Avianor, Lufthansa Technik and AAR Aircraft Services.
Townsend will be responsible for leading all sales and business development efforts for the company’s portfolio of maintenance, modification and refurbishment services for Boeing, Airbus and Bombardier CRJ aircraft.
Commercial Jet specializes in both scheduled and unscheduled heavy maintenance, line maintenance, modifications, all airframe inspections, freighter conversions, interior modifications, avionic upgrades and aircraft painting.
Third-party logistics provider Kane Is Able Inc. has named two veteran logistics industry executives to lead its operations team. Patrick Coughlin will serve as chief operating officer and John Kettman will serve as senior vice president of distribution and operations.
Coughlin has more than 30 years of logistics management experience. In addition to third-party logistics experience, he has held senior management positions in corporate settings with Victoria’s Secret and TOO Inc. Most recently he was vice president of Ryder Last Mile.
Kettman’s 30-year career logistics career also includes corporate experience with Keebler Cookie Co. and Klaussner Manufacturing. Most recently, he oversaw all operations, purchasing and IT for safety product distributor Premier Safety.
Meritor Inc. (NYSE: MTOR) announced the appointment of Chris Villavarayan as executive vice president and chief operating officer. Villavarayan has served as senior vice president and president of Meritor’s Global Truck segment since January 2018.
In this new position, Villavarayan will have global operating responsibility for both of Meritor’s business segments, Global Truck and Aftermarket & Industrial and Trailer, and will continue to report directly to Jay Craig, Meritor’s CEO and president.
Over a 20-year career with Meritor, he has served as president of Truck Americas, responsible for the company’s commercial truck, defense and specialty businesses in North and South America. He also had responsibility for Meritor’s global components engineering, product validation and materials engineering, as well as engineering and program management. In addition, he served as vice president of global manufacturing and supply chain management and was managing director for Meritor’s operations in India.
Headquartered in Troy, Michigan, Meritor is a global supplier of drivetrain, mobility, braking and aftermarket solutions for commercial vehicle and industrial markets.
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