SEAN STRAWBRIDGE ADDS CHAIRMAN OF THE AAPA TO HIS LONG LIST OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS

By: Tyler Reed, MBA

Acommon association for ports to unify under a common banner is through the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA), based strategically in Washington, DC. Advocating for ports in general, while still proudly representing the Port of Corpus Christi, is industryveteran, Sean Strawbridge. Strawbridge has newly been elected as the Chairman of the Board of the AAPA and holds ambitious plans for the future as he moves ports to center stage. With an avalanche of negative headlines to mitigate against such as lingering supply chain issues, soaring inflation, the war in Ukraine, a global energy crisis, and intensifying weather and hurricanes, Sean Strawbridge certainly has his work cut out for him. We sat down with Strawbridge to capture his views on the state of the American port system, his perceived greatest challenges and threats, and a peek into the bold vision he has in mind.

MEET “MR. PORTS” - SEAN STRAWBRIDGE

Sean Strawbridge is a voracious reader, and starts his mornings in Corpus Christi, Texas flipping through several national and local newspapers “for perspective”. A workout before getting into the office helps the 56-years-young Strawbridge power through a daily schedule that would rival the CEOs of any Fortune-500 company—which is exactly what the Port of Corpus Christi Authority has become. A hands-on manager who admittedly likes to walk around and “surprise people”, Strawbridge loves to put on his protective gear and go out to be with the field operations crews or plop down in a cubicle with a financial analyst. He takes these opportunities to get candid feedback from all levels of the organization on what’s working and how they can improve.

With the “2022 cost of living crisis” in full swing, and ports bleakly painted front and center during the supply chain woes, Strawbridge takes the helm as Chairman of the Board of the AAPA during a tumultuous time. Undeterred, Strawbridge has an ambitious agenda and what he sees as a unique “window of opportunity”. But, to better understand where he’s heading, we wanted to know from whence he came.

Sean Strawbridge got his start with Sea-Land, a Maersk Company, in the early ’90s. From there, he’s continued in global transportation and energy for the better part of a long and storied career. With over three decades under his belt in senior leadership roles in both the public and private sectors, Strawbridge has proven himself in the trenches of business and corporate development, large-scale infrastructure development, capital structuring and finance, and public-private partnerships. Strawbridge has played key roles at top players in maritime commerce such as the Port of Long Beach, Ports America Group, and Oxbow Energy. This experience has all been brought to a head in his current role as CEO of the Port of Corpus Christi, which happens to be the #1 U.S. port in total revenue tonnage. Strawbridge also just so happens to have written extensively on how marine terminals are evolving, as well as paradigm shifts in vessel-based shipping.

As a proud representative of Texas, a seaports veteran, and a media personality who never shies away from talking about all things marine transport, Strawbridge is a bit of an outlier among American port CEOs—which is exactly how he plans to put ports back on the map for the critical infrastructure and national security roles they play across the U.S. Despite ports being so different, it’s up to Strawbridge to look for the commonalities across them to present a unified voice as the new Chairman of the Board of the AAPA.