About

Passenger-vessel operations experience, translated into practical systems and leadership support for your fleet.

About TPWC

Maritime operations leadership rooted in passenger-vessel reality: tight schedules, tight berths, and no-room-for-error tides.

John Scannell – Principal, The Pacific Western Companies

John is a U.S. Coast Guard-licensed Master with extensive experience running large dinner boats, ferries, and charter vessels in demanding metropolitan harbors.

He has served in wheelhouses and operations roles across multiple fleets, with a focus on passenger experience, schedule integrity, and safety culture that endures beyond any single captain.

TPWC was created to give small and mid-sized operators access to that depth of experience on a flexible, fractional basis—so you can get big-ship thinking without adding a full-time executive to payroll.

Core values

  • Integrity at every tide. Advice that is candid, conservative where it must be, and always aligned with your obligations as an operator.
  • Professional seamanship. Modern operations, rooted in traditional watchstanding discipline and judgment.
  • Safety through culture. Systems and habits your crews will actually use, not just binders that appear for inspections.
  • Partnership over transaction. Long-term relationships with owners and crews, not one-off paperwork projects.
  • Innovation with purpose. Digital tools and workflows that genuinely simplify life aboard and ashore.
Officer on a ship bridge looking out over the water

Why fractional maritime leadership?

Many fleets sit in an awkward middle ground: big enough that the owner can’t wear every hat, but not quite ready to add a full-time Director of Marine Operations.

TPWC fills that gap with scheduled strategic calls, periodic site visits, and on-call availability for the big questions—backed by practical checklists, training plans, and documentation you can put to work immediately.