Captain John Cox
President

A thirty-five year veteran in the maritime shipping and cruise business, John has extensive experience both at sea and ashore. He has achieved a high level of experience in marine transportation, vessel, port and terminal management and operations, cruise line marketing, organization and administration.

He was formerly Senior Vice President of Admiral Cruises in Miami where he headed management of cruise vessel operations. Prior to the formation of Admiral, Captain Cox served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Los Angeles based Western Cruise Line, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gotaas-Larsen Shipping Group of London. In 1981 Western introduced the first short duration cruises on the West Coast between Los Angeles and Mexico with the cruise liner SS Azure Seas. He first joined GL's Eastern Steamship Lines in 1971 as Staff Captain and later served as Master of Cruise Vessles sailing California-Mexico and Caribbean.

In addition, Captain Cox has managed major projects in the following areas:

• Analyzed the market opportunities and operational feasibility of a major cruise project in Southeast Asia for PT Samudra Petrindo Shipping, a firm of the Bimantara Group, Jakarta, Indonesia.
  
  
• Served as Project Leader and directed the initial concept of configuration and design of Admiral's (now Royal Caribbean Cruise Line) new 44,300 ton 1,600 passenger liner, M.V. NORDIC EMPRESS, which began operation in mid-1990.
  
  
• Active involvement with a number of start-up shipping activities, management and operation of research vessels for the U.S. Department of the Interior, and a comprehensive knowledge of ports and worldwide cruise line operations.
  

Captain Cox is a graduate of the California Maritime Academy with a B.S. Degree in Marine Science and continued education in business at the University of Washington and San Francisco State University.

He is a member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, the Society of Marine Consultants, Council of American Master Mariners, and the International Marine Transit Association.