Brookes Bell USA Keeps Its Foot On the Gas

Contributing more than $730 billion to its economy, the maritime sector plays a pivotal role in the United States, resulting in a major demand for leading marine services to support this vibrant ecosystem.

For Martin Twomey, Director of Brookes Bell USA, the past 12 months have seen continued strength and growth in the team across the United States, not to mention increased demand for Brookes Bell’s range of services.

“It has certainly been a busy period for our team across the United States over the past year.  We have welcomed a number of new members of the team, including Erik Oberlin as a Managing Master Mariner and Monir Uddin as a Principal Marine Engineer, who have already made a huge impact on our service offerings.  That does not mean, however, that we are taking our foot off the gas just yet.  We are continuing to recruit as we seek the very best that the marine and energy sectors have to offer to ensure Brookes Bell remains the leading name in our industry.”  he noted. 

“We also want to make sure we have a presence across the United States.  We have team members in Houston, San Francisco, New York and Virginia but we are also looking to bolster our presence in New Orleans as well.  It is vital for us to have a wide presence in order to service the entire Americas region.  We have been doing a lot of case work in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Panama over the past few months so we want to drive that global presence that Brookes Bell is known for.”  

This drive in recruitment is a direct result of Brookes Bell’s expansion in its various services, as well as a desire to offer new services that are not commonly available in the US market. 

“We are continuing to grow our Hull & Machinery and Personal Injury services that we have on offer and we are well-placed to take on more work in those areas in the future.  That means working closely with clients both in the United States and Europe and ensuring that Brookes Bell continues to operate as a global force, working in close connection with the team in the United Kingdom to offer a wide array of services,” he added. 

We are also planning to grow our fire services with additional Fire Experts and Chemists throughout the regions we operate in. 

Despite a busy case load and a continued expansion of services and personnel, Martin also noted that his team has been out and about to a number of shipping, logistics and energy conferences and forums to ensure Brookes Bell remains at the forefront of the market, as well as engaging with maritime academies on some of the biggest safety and risk factors facing the shipping sector.

“In early April we presented at Cal Maritime (California State University Maritime Academy) on electric vehicle fires onboard vessels.  This is an area we are very active in and is certainly a major talking point amongst shippers so it is vital Brookes Bell is engaging with the sector to ensure we can offer advice and best practice where applicable.”

Martin noted that Brookes Bell is also set to be a part of the 40^th River and Marine Industry Seminar from the Greater New Orleans Barge Fleeting Association, an upcoming salvage seminar hosted by T&T Salvage in Houston and several Marine Law Association events in New York throughout the year. 

“We are always making sure our team is part of these events.  They are vital for us to build and make new connections with the maritime sector in the US, not to mention ensuring the Brookes Bell name continues to be a part of these events, big or small.”