KEY TEAM MEMBERS
Jay Gottlieb
Jay Gottlieb is Chairman, President and CEO of Argent Marine. He joined Argent Marine 1n 1996 after having served on the board of directors of the Company since its inception. Jay directs and supervises the Argent Marine team and all day-to-day activities and operations. He is directly responsible for managing the US Maritime Administration’s MSP program. He also oversees the Company's business plan and initiatives directed towards the transportation, heavy equipment, and industrial sectors where Argent Marine identifies and pursues high value transactions. Jay has, among other things, guided the Company’s penetration in the rapidly developing small-scale LNG sector, including the emerging marine bunkering sector. Prior to joining Argent Marine, Jay served as co-founder, COO and as a principal stockholder of the United States Can Company, which he eventually took public. Before that, he was a senior executive of American Can Company. Jay holds an MBA from the University of Connecticut and a BA in Economics from Boston College.
Frank Duffield
Frank Duffield joined Argent Marine in 2009. He pursues transactions involving the Company’s specialized marine tonnage in Europe and in the Asia-Pacific region. Frank has been instrumental in surfacing more than a dozen high value transactions in these geographic theaters. Prior to joining Argent Marine, Frank spent more than 30 years at Royal Dutch Shell. His positions included various senior management roles at Shell International Gas and Power developing Shell's LNG interests across the globe, including in Nigeria, Venezuela, Brunei, Turkey, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and in Russia. In Russia, Frank was president and CEO of Sakhalin Energy and played a key role in getting the Sakhalin LNG project off the ground. Frank also served Shell International Marine in senior capacities including as Director of LNG Shipping where, at one point, he had overall responsibility for Shell's considerable LNG fleet. Frank holds an LL.M from the London School of Economics and an LL.B from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Gary Van Tassel
Gary Van Tassel is responsible for all technical aspects of Argent Marine's LNG small scale LNG initiatives. He is a naval architect and marine engineer by training who joined the Company at its inception in 1990. With more than 35 years of LNG experience, Gary is widely acknowledged as one of the world's leading experts on LNG systems and marine vessels giving papers and chairing conference sessions on a variety of topics. Among many of his other accomplishments, he spearheaded the extensive refurbishment and refit of Argent Marine's 125,000 mᶾ LNG tankers enabling them to be successfully placed in service on behalf of Shell after periods of long lay-up. More recently, Gary has devoted his attention to the Company's Bulk and Intermodal AT/Bs and its IBV of which he is the inventor and design developer. Before joining Argent, Gary served as a Senior Cryogenics Engineer for the El Paso Marine Company. He holds an ME in Ocean Engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology and a BS in Marine Engineering and Nautical Science from the US Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point. Gary holds dual deck and engine US Merchant Marine Ship's Officer Licenses.
William S Wayne
Bill Wayne serves Argent as an exclusive LNG Consultant for small-scale LNG projects. An acknowledged and respected figure in the LNG shipping industry, Bill's 45 years of experience centers around the design, construction and operation of LNG ships. Bill’s illustrious career spans more than 40 years with Royal Dutch Shell rising to various senior LNG marine positions and some five years as the General Manager and COO of the Society of International Gas Tanker and Terminal Operators (SIGTTO). While at SIGTTO, Bill represented the industry at the highest levels with government administrations and at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) where he contributed to the redrafting of the International Gas Carrier Code and the development of a code for gas as a fuel in general shipping. Bill was a major contributor to Shell’s development work for new LNG concepts and has given papers and chaired sessions at the most prominent industry conferences. Bill is a Chartered Engineer, a Chartered Marine Engineer and a Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology.
Office Support
From Left to right:
Denise Miller, Hershal Kohut, Sue Pinney, Stephanie Mussatti