For more than 80 years, agents at Moran Shipping Agencies Inc. have been assisting foreign-flagged vessels as they sail through U.S. waters and dock at domestic ports.
The company coordinates repairs, provides necessities for crew members and offers information on specific ports. Other services include help with accounting and finances, and expertise in U.S. governmental regulations pertaining to ships.
“It really focuses on taking care of a ship and crew who are far from home,” said Jason Kelly, Moran Shipping’s executive vice president. “It’s a lot of responsibility, a lot of dollars on the line, along with people’s lives and property.”
Founded in 1937 in Providence, the business now handles more than 7,000 port calls annually for large vessels, such as tankers and container ships. Moran has offices in 20 cities across the country and serves more than 100 U.S. ports, Kelly said.
As digital shipping services and blockchain technology reconfigure onboard record-keeping, Moran is looking to the wider blue economy to address those issues and others in the shipping industry.
Reducing vessels’ carbon emissions, collisions with right whales and the transfer of invasive species in ballast water are all challenges that invite new technologies.
Blue-economy startups are a promising place to start, Kelly said.
“The blue economy is really our road map to being a viable, scalable and sustainable company, and that’s why it’s so great for us to be here in New England,” he said. “Moran robustly interacts with the marine trades, with the University of Rhode Island and other universities, with the defense sector ... these are all how Moran is looking to scale in the blue economy.”
