AMO National President Willie Barrere, Maersk COO Ed Hanley and Vincent Marino, CEO of CMC-ITI-CSS, were honored at the AOTOS Awards.
American Maritime Officers National President Willie Barrere, along with the AMO-led crews of the tanker Stena Immaculate and M/V El Coquí, were honored at the 2025 Admiral of the Ocean Sea (AOTOS) Awards dinner hosted by the United Seamen’s Service in New York on October 24.
The AOTOS Award is widely considered the maritime industry’s most prestigious honor, with maritime titans such as Paul Hall and Mike Sacco among those receiving the accolade in the past.
Barrere, a lifelong mariner and 27-year captain, was earmarked for the award after decades of promoting the industry and improving conditions for his fellow mariners, thousands of whom he would represent once he made his way ashore to fight for better wages and benefits. He challenged the gathering of maritime executives, industry leaders and government officials to unify in order to grow the American flag fleet and compete with China on the high seas.
“We have the opportunity of bringing our U.S. maritime world to higher levels. We have a responsibility, not only to our industry, but to our nation,” he said. “As shipbuilders, shippers, operators and labor, we all need to speak with a united voice.”
Maersk Line Limited Chief Operating Officer Ed Hanley, who worked with Barrere early in their careers, also receiving an AOTOS Award, along with Vincent Marino, Chief Executive Officer of logistics company CMC-ITI-CCS.
The crew of the Stena Immaculate, which was represented by Third Mate Jeff Griffin, received the AOTOS Special Recognition Plaque for their actions after the vessel was struck by a foreign cargo ship in the North Sea in March. On the morning of March 10, the Crowley Maritime tanker was at anchor when a foreign cargo shipped plowed into it, rupturing a storage tank carrying jet fuel for the military and causing flames to engulf both vessels.
The Stena Immaculate crew acted quickly to fight the inferno and save the rest of the thousands of gallons of fuel stored onboard. All 23 crewmembers escaped the catastrophe unharmed and miraculously salvaged the ship and its cargo.
The El Coquí crew received a Mariner’s Plaque for its actions in January in the Caribbean when the Jones Act vessel diverted from its route to save four American citizens whose sailboat had sank near the Dominican Republic. The Crowley Jones Act vessel provides routine service from Jacksonville to Puerto Rico but did not hesitate to save the wayward sailors drifting in the middle of the ocean in bad weather.
Chief Mate Jaime Torres accepted the award on behalf of the crew.
Captain Barrere gives his acceptance speech at AOTOS Awards in New York.
AMO members Jaime Torres and Jeff Griffin (center) were congratulated by the AMO Executive Board during the AOTOS Awards dinner.
The honorable Elaine Chao, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation and U.S. Labor Secretary, greets Chief Mate Torres at AOTOS Awards.
Third Mate Jeff Griffin, who survived the foreign vessel crashing into his vessel in March, is congratulated by President Barrere and AMO VP Christian Spain.