Crowley and SEACOR Holdings in August jointly announced the successful formation of Fairwater Holdings LLC. Fairwater, an independent U.S. company, integrates Crowley and SEACOR’s petroleum and chemical transportation vessels, capabilities and personnel to provide U.S. Jones Act shipping solutions.
In all, 22 vessels operated under contract with American Maritime Officers are now owned and/or managed by Fairwater. All of these vessels will continue to operate under their existing contracts. Successor agreements for AMO-contracted vessels will be negotiated as existing contracts near expiration. AMO jobs aboard these vessels remain secure under Fairwater ownership and management.
Fairwater is active in all major Jones Act coastwise tank vessel trades, differentiating it from industry peers, and supports the transportation of petroleum products, chemical and specialty parcels as well as Alaskan crude oil. The fleet consists of 31 owned vessels, including both “ECO” and conventional medium-range product tankers, 114,000 DWT Aframax tankers and articulated tug/barges (ATBs) with varying enhancements and capabilities. Fairwater also provides ship management services for a diverse fleet of 20 third-party owned vessels.
“I am excited to lead a team of nearly 1,700 seagoing and shoreside professionals under the new Fairwater banner,” said Daniel Thorogood, CEO of Fairwater and former CEO of Seabulk. “Our geographic reach, operational and technical expertise and the diversity of our assets enables Fairwater to serve as the industry’s next-generation provider of safe, highly flexible and reliable energy transportation solutions.”
“Fairwater creates a new, dynamic leader with the broadest capabilities in our domestic industry for customers and carries forward the shared legacy of value, efficiency and high performance by Crowley and SEACOR,” said Tom Crowley, chairman and CEO of the Crowley Corporation, who also serves as chairman of Fairwater.
“Together, with Crowley, we stand ready to support the business as it solidifies its position in the market and explores new avenues of sustainable, long-term growth across the coastwise trades and other adjacent markets,” said Eric Fabrikant, CEO of SEACOR.
Fairwater has assumed the collective bargaining agreements negotiated between AMO and Seabulk, as well as the CBA negotiated between AMO and Intrepid Personnel and Provisioning for the California, Washington and Oregon.
The American Maritime Officers contracts and vessels included in this joint venture are:
Former Seabulk owned and operated tankers and ATBs:
• Seabulk Tankers – Seabulk Arctic, Seabulk Challenge
• Eco-Tankers Crew Management – Independence, Brenton Reef, Seabulk Pride, Mariner, and ATB Sea Power; additionally, it is confirmed the Tanker Security Program vessels TORM Thunder, TORM Timothy and TORM Thor will be managed by Fairwater.
• USS Transport – Brownsville, Freeport, Corpus Christi and Galveston
Former Seabulk-managed tankers:
• Phoenix Crew Management – American Phoenix
• Seabulk Crew Management – Ohio, Texas, Louisiana and West Virginia
Crowley owned and operated tankers:
• Intrepid Personnel and Provisioning (Crowley Alaska Tanker Agreement) – California, Washington and Oregon
A wholly-owned subsidiary of Fairwater Holdings will assume the Crowley Alaska Tanker contract once this acquisition is complete in the near future.
Seabulk Tankers, Inc. was renamed Fairwater Tanker Management LLC. The new company signed an agreement to assume the terms and conditions of employment and all past, current, and future obligations of the AMO/Seabulk Tanker, Inc. collective bargaining agreement.
Seabulk Crew Management, LLC was renamed Fairwater Crew Management LLC. The new company signed an agreement to assume the terms and conditions of employment and all past, current, and future obligations of the AMO/Seabulk Crew Management, LLC collective bargaining agreement.
All other AMO agreements will remain in place.
Other than the normal negotiation process as contracts expire, there will be no immediate change to any of the AMO agreements. There will continue to be multiple companies and contracts for various reasons. AMO recently negotiated an extension of the contract covering the American Phoenix with a significant compensation increase for the ship’s officers so that contract will now expire on the same date as the Eco-Tankers and USS Transport contracts that have transitioned to Fairwater.
Fairwater’s seagoing and shoreside operations are headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with offices in Fairfield, Connecticut; Houston, Texas; Jacksonville, Florida; and Seattle.