Hastings Resigns as Sea Star President

Steve Hastings has resigned as president of Sea Star Line, the third-largest carrier in the U.S. mainland-Puerto Rico trade.

Anthony Chiarello, CEO of American Shipping Group, which owns 90 percent of the Sea Star and is the line’s managing partner, said he taking over day-to-day operations while a search is conducted for a successor to Hastings.

Hastings joined Sea Star in 1996 and was named president in April 2010. He previously was vice president of operations.

Sea Star operates three trailer ships with capacities of 1,200 twenty-foot-equivalent units of containers between Jacksonville and Port Everglades, Fla., and Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Tortola. The Jacksonville-based company discontinued a short-lived service to Philadelphia in June, citing poor volumes.

American Shipping Group is owned by Saltchuk Resources, which also owns Alaska carrier Totem Ocean Trailer Express and Interocean American Shipping, a ship management company. The remaining 10 percent of Sea Star is owned by Taino Star, a group of Puerto Rico business interests.

-- Contact Joseph Bonney at jbonney@joc.com.