CROWLEY REVAMPS LATIN AMERICA, CARIBBEAN SERVICES

CROWLEY REVAMPS LATIN AMERICA, CARIBBEAN SERVICES    Crowley Maritime Corp. said it will commence operations in Puerto Rico, Latin America and the Caribbean under the brand name of Crowley Liner Services on Jan. 4.
   Crowley made its announcement “in anticipation of concluding the sale of its South America container services to Hamburg Sud,” according to a company statement, which gave no specific date for closure of that merger. Crowley officials had no further comment.
   “Our new Puerto Rico/Caribbean and Latin America business units will be more autonomous and offer customers faster response and flexibility through a decentralized organizational structure,” said Tom Crowley, Jr., chairman, president and CEO of Crowley Maritime Corp.
   The company’s Puerto Rico/Caribbean division, managed by John Douglass, offers service between Canada, the U.S., Puerto Rico, and 19 Caribbean ports.
   Crowley’s Latin America division, headed by Rinus Schepen, provides service between the U.S. and Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia and Venezuela.
   The two divisions have separate sales, marketing, booking and rate teams. Each manages its own operations and pricing functions.