Cruise Management International (CMI)'s new chief executive says the Miami company is working to become the go-to manager for the small cruiseship sector.
The expedition cruiseship manager has tapped cruise industry veteran Jim Barreiro de Leon as its new chief executive and president, as TradeWinds reports in its weekly edition. He replaces Kenneth Engstrom, who retired at the start of this month.
"I think that the small ship market is still very fragmented," he said. "There is no one single authority in that market that can address all of the concerns that owners and operators alike have, and I'm looking forward to establishing ourselves as the go-to authority for anything related to small ships."
Barreiro brings more than 30 years of experience in the cruiseship management sector. He spent 20 of those years as managing director of the US division of manager V Ships Leisure. after leaving in October 2015, he was managing director of Ship Supply of Florida for more than a year and a half.
He joins as CMI, backed by chairman Niels-Erik Lund, is setting the stage for growth in its core focus.
The company was formed in 2015 as FleetPro, which merged with Lund's International Shipping Partners in 2012, exited the ocean sector to focus on river cruiseships.
CMI, which is couched as a continuation of ISP and which currently manages 11 vessels, is positioned to manage a fleet of four to 10 newbuildings that Lund-led sister company SunStone Ships is ordering at shipbuilder China Merchant Industry Holdings.
"We're looking at really increasing the fleet with newbuild vessels and to really address the issues of the ageing small vessel market," Barreiro de Leon.
