A.R. Savage & Son, LLC

A.R. Savage & Son is a Tampa maritime services company established in 1945 by Arthur Russell Savage. In 1929, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad had moved him to Tampa to serve as Superintendent of Port Tampa. The family's ties to Tampa Bay shipping are older still: in 1846, Captain James McKay Sr., the CEO's great-great-grandfather on his mother's side, began commercial shipping on Florida's west coast.

The founder's son, W.O. "Bill" Savage, carried on the business. After Bill died in 1982, his wife Shirley Savage became president; she added containerized cargo and served as Norway's and Denmark's honorary consul. In 1986 the Propeller Club Port of Tampa named her Maritime Person of the Year.

Today the company is led by CEO Arthur R. Savage, Bill and Shirley's son and the founder's grandson, who also holds honorary consul posts for Norway and Denmark.

The firm provides ship agency, ocean freight forwarding and maritime advisory services at ports in the United States, the Caribbean and South America. Its agents arrange for ships to enter port, dock, and load or discharge cargo, coordinating with tugboats, pilots and stevedores as well as the U.S. Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection. The cargo team books freight on common carriers and is especially experienced with fertilizers, phosphates and limestone.