Two New Members Join SAFE Boats Board of Directors
Bremerton, Wash. based boatbuilder SAFE Boats International announced that retired Vice Admiral William “Dean” Lee and Tom Norton have joined its board of directors.Vice Admiral Lee served in the U. S. Coast Guard for more than 36-years, most recently serving as the Commander, Atlantic Area (LANTAREA), responsible for all Coast Guard operations from the Rocky Mountains to the Arabian Gulf. During his service to the Nation, he served in numerous command and staff positions specializing in search and rescue and small boat operations. Notable assignments included Commander, Fifth District;
Metal Shark Hires Marshall as Executive VP
Louisiana-based boat builder Metal Shark announced it has expanded its executive team with a newly recruited appointment from the U.S. Navy and Department of Defense Naval Surface Warfare Center – Carderock (NSWC). Jason Marshall joins Metal Shark as Executive Vice President – Programs, following a 30 year career with NSWC’s Combatant Craft Division (CCD).Marshall most recently served as CCD’s In-Service Systems Engineering Branch Head (2019-2023), managing the team of project managers and systems engineers responsible for the Navy’s sustainment combatant craft, high
SAFE Boats Becomes 100% Employee-owned
SAFE Boats International, a boatbuilder with yards in Bremerton and Tacoma, Wash., announced it completed a transaction that transfers 100% of the company’s ownership to its employees.The SAFE Boats International Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) has acquired the company, completing the final milestone in a journey that started in late 2022. An ESOP is an employee retirement plan that allows employees to own shares in the business and benefit from the shares’ growth in value over time.SAFE Boats, which designs and manufactures aluminum watercraft ranging in size from 21 to more than 100
Bryton Marine Group Names McVitty as COO
., EagleCraft – Campbell River, B.C., KingFisher Boats – Vernon, B.C., and Renaissance Marine Group – Clarkston, Wash.Relocating from Cape Town, South Africa, McVitty brings to the role decades of marine industry experience. In 2021, he was appointed Board Member with South African Boat Builder Expert Council. Until recently, he was the chief executive officer for a South African company building highly specialized commercial vessels. he is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School.“On behalf of the team, I am thrilled to welcome Stuart to Bryton Marine Group. He is a proven leader
USMI Names Hunt President, Bernhard CTO
Timothy Hunt has been named president and Bryant Bernhard, PE, chief technology officer of boatbuilder United States Marine, Inc. (USMI).Hunt has more than 24 years of experience in the marine industry and 12 years with USMI. “Tim has my support, and that of the USMI employees, as he assumes this important role of leadership at USMI,” said John Dane, III, USMI chairman and CEO.To facilitate Hunt’s appointment, Bernhard will assume the new position of innovations efforts as the CTO. This change will ensure continued innovation at USMI, the company said. “In all my years in the
SCHOTTEL Sponsors Student Scholarships
maritime industry already during my Bachelor's studies. In this way, I can gain valuable insights into the working world and get a lot of interesting information first-hand.”Nils Sichert, master student in engineering with a specialization in mechanical engineering, said, “As a trained boat builder, I had early contact with the maritime industry. That's why I'm all the more pleased now that I'm not only expanding my theoretical knowledge as part of my studies, but also enriching it with practical experience of a traditional German company.”In addition to the already established
Pruzek Named Executive VP at RECONCRAFT
Boatbuilder RECONCRAFT announced that it has named Josh Pruzek as executive vice president, effective January 1.Pruzek brings to the role two decades of leadership and operations in the specialized marine manufacturing industry. He most recently served as the vice president of sales and business development at Vigor for two years and as vice president of marine products at Oregon Iron Works for 17 years, both in the Portland, Ore. area. He led the successful capture and execution of multiple high-profile programs including SOCOM’s Combatant Craft Heavy (CC-H), Combatant Craft Medium (CC-M) and
Christensen Joins SAFE Boats
U.S. boatbuilder SAFE Boats International announced it has hired Cole Christensen as Business Development Manager - Commercial.Christensen brings a wealth of industry knowledge and experience. In his new role with the Business Development Team, he will focus on all aspects of the commercial sector, growing brand awareness both domestically and globally. He will be integral in advancing efforts to expand SAFE Boats’ presence in the offshore wind market and promoting the Stormer Workboats line of products.“We’re excited to have Cole on board to lead our commercial efforts. His energy
Moose Boats Hires Ken Royal as Sales VP
Califronia-based boat builder Moose Boats said it has hired Ken Royal as vice president of sales.Royal has extensive experience operating Moose Boats as a firefighter with the Tiburon Fire Protection District, and training other operators on Moose Boats, and will bring these skills and knowledge to help grow the Moose Boats brand. “Having logged over 15 years serving his district aboard two Moose Boats catamarans, we find his expertise in real world applications to be of great value to both current and prospective Moose Boats clients” said Stephen Dirkes, general manager of Moose Boats.
Hanscom Named GM of Willard Marine
Boatbuilder Willard Marine announced Eugene Hanscom has been appointed general manager.The industry veteran came to Willard in May of 2020 as the director of finance. Prior to that he spent the last six years with Curtin Maritime, a Long Beach-based maritime construction services company, as vice president of finance. Hanscom got his start in the industry by gaining his USCG Masters License and operating charter fishing trips on various vessels berthing at Fisherman’s Landing, San Diego.“I look forward to steering Willard into the next generation of its long history of success. In partnering
US Shipyards: Always on the Job Hunt
is an exciting time to be part of our team, to be honest. Whether it’s design, construction or maintenance and sustainment, we are solidifying our place as a tier one American shipbuilder,” Deste said.On the West Coast, the pandemic has not diminished the strong sales and backlog of aluminum boatbuilder SAFE Boats International, who is currently hiring for various positions in production, engineering and other support roles at its Bremerton, Wash. shipyard.“The pandemic has had no impact on our staffing needs,” said SAFE Boats’ human resources director, Cindy McFarland. &ldquo
ZF Promotes Orvieto
Commercial Fast Craft and Engineering – North America. Orvieto, a 4+ year member of the ZF team first worked with the company as an intern in 2011.Orvieto returned to ZF in 2015 after completing a Master’s degree in engineering, followed by a period as a naval architect at a large American boat builder. Upon his return to ZF, Orvieto took a position as naval architect, eventually rising to the position of Business Unit Manager for the Propeller product line.Orvieto then moved on to manage the company’s engineering for marine products in North America. His responsibilities were expanded
Fairline Appoints de Roos
Luxury British boat builder, Fairline Yachts, has announced that Dennis de Roos has joined the company as Commercial Director. de Roos will be responsible for managing the Fairline Yachts design, sales and marketing teams, and overseeing the dealer network.Formerly Commercial Director with Morgan Cars, de Roos brings a wealth of experience from across a range of business industries, starting his career across the hospitality and services sector, followed by 10 years with General Motors and 5 years with Ingersoll Rand, developing its sales networks and delivering sustainable growth.de Roos was born in
Aluma Marine Grows Marketing Team
Boat builder Aluma Marine, LLC has appointed Malcolm Wisch as Director of Sales and Marketing and Sherry Wisch as Marketing Manager.An industry veteran, Malcolm was previously associated with SeaArk Marine, Inc. for 20 years. He has a B.S. Degree in Marketing and Advertising, holds a U.S.C.G. license and is a member of the Propeller Club of the Ports of New York and New Jersey. In his new role with Aluma, Malcolm will be responsible for all sales and marketing activities and the implementation of programs designed to continue building the Aluma brand and expanding Aluma in the marketplace.Sherry will
Wille, Lamb Joined All American Marine
U.S. boat builder All American Marine announced it has hired Ron Wille as Business Development Manager and Bronson Lamb as Marketing Manager.Wille brings to the position 25 years of experience in the maritime industry, the last 15 of which were gained at Kenai Fjords Tours (KFT) in Seward, Alaska, where he served as both operations manager and general manager.Lamb previously started a marketing and advertising agency in New York, of which he is still a partner and advisor. His professional background also includes a position at commercial marina in Mayport, Fla. and seven years in the film and televisio
Currie to Step Down as MD at Fairline Yachts
Yachts has secured many significant achievements including winning two World Yacht Trophies for best exterior design of the Targa 63 GTO and Targa 43 OPEN and receiving the Motor Boat & Yachting Judges’ Special Award 2018 for ‘the best turnaround of a business.’ Part of the boat builder’s turnaround has been the acquisition of the 200,000 square ft shore-side manufacturing site in Hythe, Southampton, which allows Fairline to build bigger boats than has been possible before.Fairline’s Executive Chairman, David Tydeman, will take over the reins from Russell. David has
BCGP Appoints Bon Fleur as General Manager
Group President, Nick Stickler. Prior to joining the BCGP team, Bon Fleur served in various other roles inside BCGP’s parent company, Brunswick Corporation, including continuous improvement manager for Boston Whaler, and most recently director of operations for Thunder Jet, an aluminum boat builder in Washington state. Bon Fleur has been with Brunswick since 2012, when he joined the Company as a process engineer at the previously owned Hatteras Yachts. Bon Fleur holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Florida, and a master degree in industrial engineering
