Newsmakers

POLA Board Elects New President, Vice Pres. Lucille Roybal-Allard (center) and her colleagues on the LA Harbor Board. The Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners on July 20 elected former U.S. Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard as its new president. The five-member commission also voted in Diane Middleton as its new vice president. Both began their new roles immediately after their unanimous election. Roybal-Allard was appointed to the five-member board by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass in May. Roybal-Allard previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives for three decades and was the first Mexican-American woman elected to the U.S. Congress. As…

Newsmakers

Crowley Names New Wind Services, Government Relations VPs In late March, Maritime and logistics company Crowley appointed Mark Coplen to the role of vice president of project management for Crowley Wind Services, where he’s expected to help advance the company’s growth and market leadership in the offshore wind industry. In his role, Coplen is being tasked with expanding Crowley Wind’s project management capabilities to support customers in its offering of engineering, procurement and construction management for the offshore wind market. He previously served as president of Ventolines, an offshore wind consulting company, and as vice president of AdBm Technologies, a…

Newsmakers

Peter Levesque Named President of CMA CGM America, APL In late November, the CMA CGM Group, a global sea, land, air and logistics solutions company led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rodolphe Saadé, announced that Ed Aldridge, president of CMA CGM America and American President Lines (APL), would retire on Dec. 6. Peter Levesque, an international global supply chain executive with more than 30 years of industry leadership experience, assumed the presidency of both CMA CGM America and APL upon his departure. Levesque is an accomplished international shipping executive who until 2021 was president of Ports America Group. Prior…

Newsmakers

John McCarthy Named CEO of Seaspan Shipyards North Vancouver-based Seaspan Shipyards announced Sept. 20 that the board of directors of its parent corporation, the Washington Companies, has appointed John McCarthy as CEO of the shipyards, effective immediately. He succeeds Mark Lamarre, who assumes a new role as president and CEO of the Washington Companies, following the planned retirement of his predecessor. McCarthy has been a part of the senior leadership team with Seaspan since 2018 and brings more than 36 years of experience in shipbuilding, repair and overhaul and as a senior leader at American and international shipyards. As Seaspan’s…

IANA Award Winners Announced

The Intermodal Association of North America on July 13 announced that the winners of its three industry awards will be honored at the annual Intermodal Expo in September. The winners are: the Silver Kingpin Award—Ted Prince; the Chairman’s Award—Jim Newsome; and the Intermodal Achievement Award—Congressman Alan Lowenthal. The recognitions will take place during Intermodal Expo’s opening general session on Tuesday, Sept. 13 at the Long Beach Convention Center in Southern California. Prince, the chief strategy officer and co-founder of Tiger Cool Express, was selected to receive the IANA Silver Kingpin Award for his career-long contributions to intermodalism. Prince is a…

Fincantieri Marine Group Announces New CEO

Fincantieri Marine Group, a U.S. subsidiary of Italian shipbuilding giant Fincantieri, announced that general manager Marco Galbiati has been named as the new CEO effective July 6, while former CEO Dario Deste remains the company’s president. Galbiati had been FMG’s general manager since 2018 and in this capacity, had been heavily involved in all aspects of the business and its efforts to grow the workforce in support of important commercial and military contracts. Deste had served as FMG’s president and CEO since 2018, and was recently promoted to lead Fincantieri’s Naval Vessels Division. Galbiati began his business career in 1996…

Lesko Named Irving Shipbuilding President

Dirk Lesko will assume the role of president of Halifax, Nova Scotia-based Irving Shipbuilding Inc. on Sept. 1, the company announced July 11. Lesko retired in April 2022 as a vice president with the General Dynamics Corp. and the 15th president of Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine. He was president of BIW from 2017 to 2022. BIW has been building ships for 140 years and is one of the primary military shipbuilders for the U.S. Navy. Lesko, a 32-year BIW employee and third generation shipbuilder, previously held various leadership positions with the company, including Vice President DDG 1000 Program,…

Jim Walker Retires from AAPA

The American Association of Port Authorities recently celebrated the long career of Jim Walker, AAPA’s Director of Navigation Policy and Legislation, as he retired from the workforce in June. Walker was responsible for handling waterside infrastructure issues and relevant legislative and regulatory matters, including AAPA’s Quality Partnership Initiative (QPI) with the Army Corps of Engineers. He also served as staff liaison to the Harbors and Navigation Committee. Following a 36-year career with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, he joined AAPA in 2012. His responsibilities included the organization’s efforts to improve navigation policies, legislation and funding. He was instrumental, according…

Oakland Seaport Board Elects New Pres., VPs

The president of Oakland, California’s Chamber of Commerce president is taking on an added role leading the Port of Oakland’s governing board. At their mid-July Board meeting, Port Commissioners unanimously selected Barbara Leslie as their new president. Leslie will lead the seven-member board that sets policy for Oakland’s 93-year-old port authority. She succeeds Commissioner Andreas Cluver who steps down after two years as Board President. The Board elected architect Yui Hay Lee as First Vice President. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf nominated Commissioner Yee to serve another term. The Oakland City Council ratified Commissioner Yee’s second term to serve on the…

New Executive Vice President for GEODIS

Laurent Melaine has been appointed to the position of Executive Vice President, Commercial and Marketing with European transport and logistics company GEODIS, the company announced in early July. He is a member of the company’s executive committee and reports to Marie-Christine Lombard, the company’s Chief Executive Officer. Melaine, 56, began his career at Transports Graveleau and then Dachser, holding various business development and site management positions. He joined GEODIS in 2011 as Key Account Sales Director for the Distribution & Express business, and joined its executive committee in 2013. In 2018, he was appointed International Sales Director, managing, among other…