Crowley, legally Crowley Maritime Corporation, is based in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, United States. Founded in 1892, Crowley is primarily a family- and employee-owned vessel management, owner, and supply chain logistics services company, providing services globally. As of July 2016, Crowley was ranked as the 13th largest private company in Florida, employing approximately 5,300 people worldwide with revenues of $2.2 billion. It provides its services using a fleet of more than 300 vessels, consisting of

RO-RO Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, Trailer (vehicle), trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their ...

vessels, LO-LO vessels,

tankers Tanker may refer to: Transportation * Tanker, a tank crewman (US) * Tanker (ship), a ship designed to carry bulk liquids ** Chemical tanker, a type of tanker designed to transport chemicals in bulk ** Oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanke ...

, Articulated Tug-Barges (ATBs),

tug A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

s and

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

s. Crowley's land-based facilities and equipment include terminals, warehouses, tank farms, and specialized vehicles.

History

Crowley was founded in 1892 when founder Thomas Crowley, purchased an 18-foot

Whitehall Rowboat A Whitehall rowboat is a style of lapstrake-built rowboat developed in the United States in the 19th century. The basic design is much older and of European ancestry. It strongly resembles a sailing ship's gig or a Thames river wherry used by ...

to provide transportation of personnel and supplies to ships anchored on

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...

. The company was incorporated under the name Thomas Crowley and Brothers in the later 1890s and within a few years, services broadened to include bay wing and ship assistance services. In mid-1994, following the passing of his father, Thomas B. Crowley, Jr. was elected president, chairman of the board, and chief executive officer. In 2010, following the 7.0

Haiti earthquake Some of the earthquakes in Haiti have been very destructive to the country. The widespread damage and high-number of casualties of events in 2010 and 2021 can be partially blamed on the fact that most of the population in Haiti resides in structur ...

that affected more than 3 million people and caused major damage in Port-au-Prince, Crowley (working under contract with the United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM)), re-established cargo operations in Haiti, allowing humanitarian relief from multiple shippers to enter the country. Crowley and its employees then donated $80,000 to the

American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...

in support of Haiti relief efforts and transported an estimated 15,000 emergency housing units to the island. In Dec. 2010, Crowley's Alaska fuel sales and distribution enterprise added eight Shell Oil service stations to its wholesale network. Under the agreement, Crowley had responsibility for the wholesale purchases of Shell motor fuel and transporting, distributing and selling the fuel to 17 independently owned and operated sites in Alaska. In 2018, VT Halter Maritime delivered the first of two Commitment Class,

LNG Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volume o ...

-powered Combination RORO (ConRo) ships, the El Coquí. The ship measures 219.5m long with a 26,500 deadweight tons. It can transport up to 2,400 TEU at a cruising speed of 22 knots. The Coquí sister ship, Taino, was delivered in January 2019. In 2024, the company took delivery of the first U.S. all electric tug boat, ''eWolf''. That same year, Crowley and

SEACOR Holdings SEACOR Holdings, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, provides equipment and services to the offshore petroleum industry and the marine transportation industry. An American corporation, the company holds a 70% ownership stake in a bioethanol plant ...

create standalone company.

Acquisitions

* Marine Transport Corporation, a petroleum and chemical transportation company, was acquired in 2001. * In 2002, the company purchased Speed Cargo Services, a non-vessel operating common carrier (NVOCC). A year later, in 2003, Apparel Transportation, a Central America logistics services provider to the apparel industry was purchased for an undisclosed amount. * Crowley acquired the fuel distribution assets of Northland Fuel, LLC in 2005, which consisted of Yukon Fuel Company and Service Oil and Gas. The company also purchased Titan Maritime LLC. * In 2008, the company purchased Seattle-based Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering firm, Jensen Maritime Consultants. * Customized Brokers, a Miami-based customs clearance company specializing in perishable, refrigerated cargoes was purchased by Crowley in 2009. * Crowley acquired Miami, Florida-based SeaFreight Agencies in October 2015. * Tamarind Consolidated was purchased by the company in 2023.

Notable Incidents

September 21, 2011

On September 21, 2011 a Crowley Maritime

carrying 140,000 gallons of

aviation fuel Aviation fuels are either petroleum-based or blends of petroleum and synthetic fuels, used to power aircraft. They have more stringent requirements than fuels used for ground applications, such as heating and road transport, and they contain add ...

and 5,800 gallons of

gasoline Gasoline ( North American English) or petrol ( Commonwealth English) is a petrochemical product characterized as a transparent, yellowish, and flammable liquid normally used as a fuel for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. When for ...

broke away from a tugboat during rough seas near the western coast of

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. Control of the barge was regained later that afternoon.

March 10, 2025

On March 10, 2025, the MV ''Stena Immaculate'', an

oil tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk cargo, bulk transport of petroleum, oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quant ...

managed by Crowley, was involved in the

2025 North Sea ship collision On 10 March 2025, the container ship MV ''Solong'' collided with the oil tanker MV ''Stena Immaculate'', which was at anchor in the North Sea off the coast of East Yorkshire. ''Solong'', a Portuguese ship Maritime flag, flagged out of Madeira, ...

. The Immaculate was at anchor in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

, off the coast of

East Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to the south-west ...

, when it was hit by the Portuguese-flagged

container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...

MV ''Solong''. Multiple explosions were reported and the ship was engulfed by fire, but all of the Immaculate's crew were reported rescued.

References

External links

Guide to the Crowley Maritime Corporation Records
at

The Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library is the primary special-collections library of the University of California, Berkeley. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retain the name Bancroft Library in perpetuity. ...

{{US logistics Crowley Maritime Corporation Marine salvors Container shipping companies American companies established in 1892 Transport companies established in 1892 1892 establishments in California Companies based in Jacksonville, Florida Arlington, Jacksonville Tanker shipping companies Gas shipping companies Supply shipping companies Floating production storage and offloading vessel operators Port operating companies Multinational companies headquartered in the United States Logistics companies of the United States Logistics industry in the United States Container shipping companies of the United States Transportation companies based in Florida Multinational companies based in Jacksonville