Crowley Names Karl SVP and GM of Wind Services

Crowley has appointed Bob Karl as senior vice president and general manager of the company’s new business unit, Crowley Wind Services. As Crowley elevates the scope of its offerings in wind energy, Karl will lead the company’s wind services team in the strategic development and expansion of services to support the emerging sector.  

The development of a wind service business unit will see the company continue to leverage its expertise and assets to provide landside and marine logistic solutions throughout the wind lifecycle. These include solutions for port terminals and marshaling, vessel development and operation, engineering and the U.S. workforce.

Karl is a long-time energy industry leader, serving more than two decades in various global leadership and management roles at General Electric (GE), as well as other renewal energy and manufacturing roles. From 2011 to 2018, he was North American wind projects director for GE Renewable Energy and most recently served as chief operating officer of GE Renewable Energy Global Services since 2018. In that role, Karl spearheaded the operations, inventory, learning and productivity teams for the Global Services organization across the Renewable Energy businesses, including optimizing GE Renewable Energy’s value chain.

“Bob Karl is an established leader in the international renewable energy sector, and his experience in collaboratively leading teams in both mature and emerging organizations will add significant value and growth at Crowley,” said Chief Operating Officer Ray Fitzgerald. “His success in building and enhancing teams in diverse, transformational environments fits well with our growth strategy for wind, our overall organization and our people and inclusive culture. We look forward to his expertise elevating our industry leadership and welcome his innovative perspective as a new member of our Senior Leadership Team.”

Under Karl’s leadership, Crowley will look to expand its development opportunities through more strategic partnerships. With the development of an offshore wind terminal currently underway in Salem, Massachusetts, Crowley also has partnered with other industry leaders to develop dedicated U.S. marine assets as well as support the workforce development needed. More than 44,000 jobs in offshore wind are expected to be needed to reach federal goals of 30 gigawatts in power capability by 2030, according to the U.S. government.

Karl has a master’s degree in engineering and global operations management from Clarkson University, and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.