Arctic Directory: Crowley celebrates 60 years

Newly added Crowley Solutions offers comprehensive project management services to energy and resource extraction industries

Q. What is the official name of your company?

A. Crowley Solutions, Inc.

Q. Is your firm a subsidiary or affiliate of other companies? If so, please name those firms and their relationship to your company.

A. Crowley Solutions, Inc. is wholly owned by Crowley Maritime Corporation, which owns a variety of subsidiaries, including TITAN Salvage, Jensen Maritime Consultants, Customized Brokers, Crowley Petroleum Distribution, Crowley Marine Services, Inc.

Crowley Solutions is also a partner in several joint ventures, including UIC Bowhead-Crowley, LLC.

Q. What do you most want people to know about your company?

A. We are a project management organization offering marine engineering, procurement, construction and management services in addition to extensive marine transport expertise. Crowley operates worldwide and has been operating continuously in the Arctic for more than 50 years. We leverage this experience to provide a wide variety of services and project solutions to our clients.

Q. Where is your company located?

A. In Alaska, Crowley Solutions has offices in Anchorage and Prudhoe Bay, with additional offices in Houston, New Orleans, Seattle, Sakhalin Island and a new office opening in Singapore. Crowley Petroleum Distribution has 24 offices in Alaska and Crowley Ship Assist and Escort Services has an office in Valdez.

Q. What year was the company founded and by whom?

A. Our company was founded in 1892, when founder Thomas Crowley — the grandfather of current chairman, president and CEO Thomas B. Crowley Jr. — purchased an 18-foot Whitehall boat to provide transportation of personnel and supplies to ships anchored on San Francisco Bay. The present structure, in which Crowley Maritime Corporation serves as a holding company for business lines and all subsidiaries, was put in place in 1992. The company is wholly and privately owned by the Crowley family and Crowley employees. Crowley Solutions was formed in 2012.

Q. What is your company’s primary business activity?

A. Crowley Solutions is a project management organization providing comprehensive marine services for energy and resource extraction industries. We offer a wide array of turnkey solutions to our clients, including project management, marine operations, naval architecture and marine salvage. Working with Crowley gives our customers the advantage of a single point of contact and ensures coordination among all of the company’s services. Our service offerings include: project management, fuel management, engineering, vessel design and build, emergency response, ocean towing, heavy lift barge transportation, and project concept studies.

A. We are currently providing fuel management services for the tank farm facility at Pt. Thomson. We have recently completed sealifts for both ENI and BP, which involved transporting large modules by barge from the U.S. Gulf to the U.S. Arctic. We have also transported a series of state-of-the-art drill rigs for BP, Parker and Doyon from the U.S. West Coast to the Arctic. The most recent rig move involved lightering the rig components offshore due to the draft restrictions at the dock. In 2012 we completed a large module transportation project in Sakhalin Island, Russia. Ongoing operations include coastal barging services, spill response barge services, rig towing and hovercraft operations.

Q. How many employees does your company have?

A. Crowley’s domestic workforce is more than 3,500 today, with 625 employees in Alaska.

Q. Describe the equipment your company uses and are there any new equipment purchases planned?

A. Crowley Solutions operates a wide variety of tug and barge equipment. Our newest addition to the fleet is our Ocean Class vessels with 150 Tons of Bollard pull designed specifically for rig towing services. We operate the largest domestic fleet of heavy-lift barge equipment. These barges can transport up to 20,000 tons of cargo on a single barge. In the Arctic, we have a fleet of shallow draft tugs and barges that have been specifically designed to operate in the shallow waters of off-shore Alaska. We also operate unique equipment, such as our Arctic Hawk hovercraft on the North Slope, where its unique capabilities allow operations during periods of broken ice off-shore.

Q. Is your company expanding any of its operations or locations?

A. We are currently planning an expansion into the Asian-Pacific theatre, as well as opening a Crowley Solutions office in Singapore this year. In addition, we are designing and building a variety of equipment specifically designed for this market.

Q. Is the company changing any of its services or products?

A. Crowley Solutions is focused on the full range of project management services to support development projects. Crowley has built new equipment to better support the requirements for larger modules and drilling rigs associated with the North Slope of Alaska and deepwater projects in the Gulf of Mexico. We are also working with companies who are leading exploration projects on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in the Arctic in support of their efforts. The development of the OCS could be a major driver of new equipment and services as well as future production infrastructure in the Arctic.

Q. What is your company’s main strength or its edge over the competition?

A. Crowley is set apart by our extensive Arctic experience, robust HSSE systems and management framework, comprehensive project management, in-house design and engineering support, access to the right equipment for the project, and above all, our employees.

Q. What is the most challenging work/contract the company has undertaken? 

A. Crowley most recently participated in the support operations for the Kulluk. Crowley responded to the request for assistance with rescue tugs and other support services. When the Kulluk was recovered, Crowley provided the primary towing tug for the transportation of the Kulluk from Kodiak to Dutch Harbor and supported the loading operation of the heavy lift ship.

Crowley’s subsidiary, TITAN Salvage, is currently contracted for the salvage of the Costa Concordia off the coast of Italy.

Q. What are the biggest obstacles to completing work your company undertakes?

A. The environmental challenges of working in the Arctic, the remote nature of our projects, challenging conditions, and coordinating the logistics of having the right people and equipment in a specific place at a specific time are some of the challenges Crowley successfully overcomes on a daily basis.

Q. Does your company have an anniversary or other landmark event coming up?

A. 2013 is Crowley’s 60th year of operating in Alaska.

Q. What is the average length of time employee’s work for the company?

A. The average length of employment is 9.34 years, however, 17 percent of our domestic workforce has worked for the company more than 20 years.

Q. What is your company’s safety record? What steps does the company take to ensure a safe work environment?

A. Our core values; safety management system, including internal management and continuous improvement; and our intensive training program are key to Crowley’s impressive safety record.

Q. Has your company been involved in any community projects or charity events?

A. Crowley has been actively involved in supporting education through scholarship funds. Since 1984, Crowley has provided more than half-a-million dollars in scholarship funds to more than 275 students. Crowley has also donated about $2 million to education programs. In Alaska, Crowley supports several scholarships; provides training and employment opportunities through our partnership with AVTEC and First Alaskans Institute; and locally supports the communities we operate in.

Crowley also supports charitable organizations through mentoring, volunteerism, fundraising and financial assistance. From homeless shelters to children’s homes, Crowley employees throughout the world make a difference in the communities they serve.

Q. What is the address of your company’s Web site?

A. www.crowley.com