Crowley acquires crew management specialist MMS

MMS' eight employees: Bryan Boyle, Lisa Haynie, Kelly Kuest, Veronica Veach, Kim Oliver, Klarchen Yap, Katherine Fitz, and Daysi Alfaro.

MAY 19, 2015 – Crowley Maritime Corp. has acquired Maritime Management Services, Inc. (MMS), a Seattle, WA, company with more than a decade’s worth of experience in crew management for offshore oil and gas vessels primarily in the U.S. Gulf, Singapore and Gulf of Mexico.

The addition of MMS to Crowley’s international ship management division – which provides all phases of commercial ship management along with full technical management and government contracting – strengthens the company’s global reach in the ship management industry and now allows it to service a wide variety of international and domestic customers with a pool of trained and experienced crew members ready for hire.

MMS offers crew members services such as visas, flag-state and immigration documentation; crew member certifications, including Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) and any client or operational area requirements; logistics, administrative and travel support. In addition to its Seattle headquarters, the organization also has a secondary location in Singapore.

“What sets MMS apart from others in the industry is their level of customer service and crew member loyalty,” said Crowley’s Mike Golonka, vice president, ship management.

MMS was founded in 2005 and was acquired by Crowley following the unexpected death of former owner Trevor Stabbert in 2013. The group, with eight employees, celebrated its 10th anniversary last month.

In April 2014, Crowley formed Crowley Accord Management Pvt. Ltd., an international ship management venture managed globally by the company’s ship management group. Doing so immediately increased the size and scope of Crowley’s technical ship management offerings and supported the company’s expansion into the international ship management market with a foreign crewing presence. The Accord acquisition also made Crowley a rare U.S. company – one that provides third-party international crewing and technical ship management.

“Together Crowley Accord and MMS can offer total crewing solutions, from single hires and full crew management through complete technical management to the oil and gas industry,” says Mr. Golonka. “Our offshore clients will greatly benefit from this relationship.”