Harry MaraghHIS INTRODUCTION to shipping was coincidental. But, having blazed a trail in the maritime business for some 25 years, Harry Maragh now stands at the pinnacle of his profession, as chairman and chief executive officer of his own business, Lannaman and Morris Group of Companies, and most recently, President of the 69-member Shipping Association of Jamaica.
Mr. Maragh started out in shipping in 1977 as a Sales Representative and has since worked as Validation/Traffic Clerk, Sales Manager, General Manager, Managing Director, before rising to the helm of the Lannaman Group, which includes Metro Investments Limited property and trucking; Seafreight Jamaica Limited, shipping agent for Seafreight Line Inc. and Lannaman and Morris (Shipping) Limited, the agent for Evergreen Shipping Line, and cruise and pleasure lines such as Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Sun Cruises and Festival Cruises, Fred Olson Cruises, Regal, Costa Cruises, Louis Cruises.
Having been instrumental in some of the developments in local and regional shipping over the year, Mr. Maragh recently took on the new task of leading SAJ through its transition in seeking to become a 'high performance service organisation of national relevance and impact'. Prior to that, he was Vice-President, and a member of the SAJ Managing Committee for four years as well as Chairman of the Association's Agents Committee, which has been influencing significant changes for local agents. He is a trustee of the Kingston Portworkers Superannuation Pension Fund and is involved in other areas of the Association's business.
As President, Mr. Maragh sees fulfilling the goal of "repositioning the SAJ" in light of global changes to be paramount. He wants SAJ to become more relevant and to empower and develop the human resources in the Association and the wider industry by creating opportunities and direction for personal and corporate growth.
"I propose to continue on the path of restructuring and diversification of SAJ's revenue base and to unite the strengths of the industry through co-operation and Information Technology, to enable us to achieve economies of scale and even sell our back office services overseas to shipping lines and global logistics players," states Mr. Maragh.
A laid-back kind of guy who describes himself as "dedicated, calm and strategic", Mr. Maragh expects challenges in his current role, but without making any promises, says the people he leads can expect his "dedication and creativity" and commitment to unearth "the God given talents in everyone who is willing and committed to produce". "Everyone is a potential winner...," he observes, admitting to being a 'team oriented manager' who seeks to empower people to produce by reinforcing positive qualities.
Over the years, Mr. Maragh has witnessed the transformation of shipping, and now, he anticipates further growth and development as well as contributing to the process. To him, the most critical development has been, "the advent of containerisation in the late 1960s, which transformed a shipping industry that was solely dependent on the traditional break bulk methods". The rapid development of Management Information Systems (MIS), which has made the industry into an integral member of the global supply chain, is also an area of value, he underscores.
"I am anticipating the day when Customs will become a better facilitator of trade by completing their development of the MIS system, allowing Agents and other stakeholders to transact businesses in a more timely fashion. And, I want to see the industry develop to the level of a "One Stop Shop" for importers and exporters," the SAJ President explains.
Among his contribution to the maritime industry, Mr. Maragh cites being a pacesetter in freight sales locally and fuelling the development of cruise shipping in Jamaica. On the regional front, he has diversified and provided choices to many Caribbean businesses through the growth and development of one of the largest regional cargo carriers Seafreight Shipping Lines.
He credits his success to the early mentoring and support from industry leaders, such as Astor Chong, Ludlow Stewart, Ainsley Morrison and Vance Lannaman, and sums up his outlook on his new role in the words of US President Franklyn Roosevelt: "the only limit to our realisation of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith."
In his spare time, Mr. Maragh enjoys jogging, nature walks and animals. He is married to Charmaine and has two children - a son and daughter.
