All Hands On Deck! Transmarine’s far-reaching staff takes with great seriousness and pride the trust that owners and charterers place in us. With excellence on display daily – from our trained boarding agents to our experienced managers – our veteran staff works hard to positively impact the safe coordination of your highly valuable vessels and cargo operation.
In this Employee Spotlight, get to know our Director of Administration and Compliance Phil Brotherton, who works out of our Portland, Oregon office. Read below to learn about Phil!
How long have you worked at Transmarine? It will be 30 years in March! In my many years here, I’ve served as Transmarine’s Vessel Manager, Assistant District Manager, Regional General Manager, Director of Administration, Vice President-Administration, and Vice President-Operations.
What’s something you enjoy about your job at Transmarine? I thoroughly enjoy working with the amazing Transmarine team, who all share the same love of working with ships.
How would your coworkers describe you? I hope they’d describe me as “reliable,” as I’ve always tried my best to be there for them when they needed me.
Tell us about an exciting or interesting project you’ve worked on at Transmarine. I’ve worked on many interesting projects in my time at Transmarine. The projects I enjoy most are those that offer a win-win-win scenario, where the company, the employees, and the customers all benefit from the work. The development of the email platform, which later became Sedna, was particularly exciting as it added much-needed efficiency when dealing with the massive number of emails that we process. Efficiency helps us, and in turn, enhances our customer service!
How long have you worked in the industry? Almost forty years, as my first commercial job was right out of Cal Maritime College in 1986.
What is your professional background before you started work at Transmarine? I went to college at UC Santa Barbara, where I majored in mechanical engineering. I crewed a square-rigged sailing vessel for a season before transferring to Cal Maritime. After graduating, I worked on vessels for a short time, then moved into vessel agency when my son was born so I could be home for my family. I remained at that vessel agency for seven years before signing on with Transmarine, where I’ve been ever since.
What do you enjoy doing in your free time? I enjoy handyman work! Carpentry, electrical, plumbing, landscaping—whatever needs fixing or building.
Anything else you’d like to share about your professional background or current role to be included in your Employee Spotlight? Any agent or seafarer must be a jack-of-all-trades. You figure out how to do whatever is needed to get the job done. I enjoy my current position as it allows me to focus on some areas I have worked on in the past but was never able to fully invest in due to lack of time. I enjoy being involved with our Maritime Community on the Columbia River, and I have also served on the boards for a local trade association and maritime non-profit organization. Additionally, I’ve been a representative on the Harbor Safety Committee and other committees on an ad hoc basis.
Founded in 1938, Transmarine is a leading U.S. tramp ship agency, headquartered in Long Beach, California, and with offices in a dozen port cities along the Gulf Coast, West Coast, and Hawaii. The most prestigious firms in the shipping industry trust Transmarine to manage their port call operations with safety and efficiency. How can we help manage your fleet, cargo, and crew while streamlining your in-port operations? Find out here.
