Williams retires from Jensen Maritime

   Jensen Maritime, a naval architecture and marine engineering firm owned by Crowley Maritime Corp., said former president and part-owner Sue Williams will retire.
   Williams joined Jensen in 1980, under founder and majority owner Ben Jensen, with initial responsibilities for managing the front desk. That year the firm was a partnership, with Ben Jensen as majority owner. In 1981, a majority interest in Jensen was purchased by a Norwegian-owned firm, which then bought Ben Jensen’s stake in the company after his death in 1983. Williams chose to stay on staff, managing the financial affairs of the company, and was given a 5 percent stake in the successful firm.
   Gradually Williams, along with others in the company, bought out the Norwegian partners, and by 1993, Williams became the president and majority owner of Jensen. She maintained the role until 2005, when Jonathan Parrot assumed the position of president.
   In 2008, Jensen was bought by Crowley and today the two companies share an office on Pier 17 in Seattle. Jensen is now under the direction of Vice President Johan Sperling, who Williams hired in 2001. Throughout the changes, Williams remained on staff and in recent years has served the company as the director of finance and a business analyst.
   Under Sperling’s leadership, Jensen has opened two additional offices – one on the East Coast in Jacksonville, Fla., and another in New Orleans.