Maritime Partners Christens Mv. Jennifer Lee

In 2024, Maritime Partners, a leading provider of leasing and financing options for both the brown- and blue-water markets, has a fleet of more than 1,850 vessels, valued at around $3 billion. That fleet includes inland towboats, tank and dry cargo barges, tankers and more.

But in 2018, the company was only three years old, not too far removed from its first vessel purchase and charter, and still operating in a small office on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain in Mandeville, La. In those days, the on-staff team only included founders Austin Sperry, who now serves as president of the company, and Bick Brooks, Maritime Partners’ CEO.

The company was growing, though, and Sperry and Brooks decided it was time to hire an office administrator.

“The job was posted on Indeed.com,” said Jennifer Brown. “They were looking for an administrator, and it specifically said, ‘Barge experience a must.’”

Brown had just been laid off from IMTT, a New Orleans-based bulk liquids storage and terminal operator, where she’d worked for 10 years in risk management. Barges and tank terminals aren’t the same thing, she recalled thinking at the time, but they’re both on the water and both part of the maritime industry. Despite the “barge experience a must” disclaimer, Brown took a chance and applied.

“I went in, had the interview, and obviously they liked me because they called me back,” Brown said.

“At the end of the interview, she said, ‘I won’t let you down. Scout’s honor,’” Sperry recalled. “I didn’t know what that meant.”

The interview indeed went well, and Brown started at Maritime Partners in June 2018.

“At that time, it was just me and Austin in Mandeville,” Brown said. “Then we moved to Metairie in February of 2019. I was still mainly Austin’s assistant and doing whatever I could paperwork-wise with the company.”

In 2019, Eric Livingston, Maritime Partner’s chief operating officer, started with the company. That was an inflection point for Brown, who wanted to see her role with the company grow.

“I can do more,” Sperry recalled Brown telling him. “I have more to give.”

With Livingston, Brown started working with the company’s portfolio of vessels on charter, inputting vessel data into Salesforce. As the company grew and there were more people in the office, Brown said she was eager to soak up as much insight as possible.

Then, in December 2021, Maritime Partners hired a new office administrator, Ashley Simon.

“That’s when I moved from the office administrator role to portfolio administrator, all the time just continuing to learn,” Brown said.

In that role, Brown ensures charters are up to date and that everything required by the charter, including insurance and U.S. Coast Guard documents, is in place. For her portfolio, Brown also sends out invoices each month.

Brown said growing along with Maritime Partners over the past five years has been amazing.

“It’s been incredible, honestly,” she said. “I’ve never been part of a company like this, obviously, but I’ve never seen a company grow like this.”

Brown said she found out the company would name a boat after her about two years ago.

“Austin and I got into the elevator together, and he just casually said, ‘Yeah, we’re naming a boat after you,’” Brown recalled. “And I just said, ‘Cool, thanks.’ It didn’t really sink in exactly what that was.”

Speaking at the christening of the mv. Jennifer Lee on November 9, Sperry described the dramatic growth of the 8-year-old company, particularly over the past year.

“Since the beginning of 2023, we’ve tripled the head count of our office,” Sperry said.

Maritime Partners’ fleet valuation also shot up in 2023, with the company’s reach growing to include financing, tankers and vessel personnel.

“This kind of success is not possible without people like Jen,” Sperry said. “It’s been a pleasure watching you grow, both personally and professionally.”

Brown said she hadn’t seen her namesake vessel until the day of the christening, which was held at C&C Marine & Repair along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in Belle Chasse, La. Addressing the crowd of friends, family and colleagues gathered at the christening, Brown made sure to thank Sperry and Brooks for “giving me a chance.” She also thanked the shipyard personnel, including C&C owner Tony Cibilich, for building the mv. Jennifer Lee.

Following a prayer of blessing by Capt. Joy Manthey, Brown broke a bottle of champaign over the gunwale of the mv. Jennifer Lee, officially christening it into the Maritime Partners fleet.

The mv. Jennifer Lee is the penultimate vessel in a series of 15 Entech-designed towboats that C&C Marine & Repair has built for Maritime Partners. The 15th towboat, the mv. Jack Nash, was delivered last month.

Like other vessels in the series, the 2,600 hp. mv. Jennifer Lee is powered by two Cummins QSK38-M1 main engines from Cummins Mid-South. Those main engines drive Reintjes WAF 665 reduction gears from Karl Senner LLC. That drive package turns four-blade, 82- by 67-inch fixed-pitch propellers from HS Marine Propulsion. The steering, alarm and monitoring systems aboard the mv. Jennifer Lee are by Rio Marine & Hydraulic. Cummins Mid-South also supplied the Jennifer Lee’s two Cummins QSB7-DM 99 kW generators. Fernstrum supplied the keel coolers.

The mv. Jennifer Lee features a soft-core joiner system from Marine Interior Systems for enhanced sound dampening and fire safety. Wheelhouse Electronics supplied the Jennifer Lee’s navigation and communication equipment, which includes Koden radar equipment, a Standard VHF radio, an Alphatron swing meter, a Young weather sensor and an Intellian satellite TV antenna.

Atop the pilothouse, the mv. Jennifer Lee has a pair of Carlisle & Finch 1,000-watt searchlights. On deck, the vessel is equipped with a pair of Patterson 40-ton winches from Donovan Marine.

Caption for top photo: The mv. Jennifer Lee was constructed by C&C Marine & Repair in Belle Chasse, La. Shown on the bow are namesake Jennifer Brown with family members; from left are Rob Roberts, Linda Roberts, Jennifer Brown, Luis Rivera, Elvia Ramirez, Tina Newbill and Jay Newbill. (Photo by Frank McCormack)