Charting Her Course

Following many years as a ship-assist tug captain, ERICA CUSTIS took charge of her career and moved up the chain in the fast-paced, male-dominated maritime industry as the general manager of Wilmington’s Moran Towing, a company that has been helping and towing ships and transporting cargo since 1860. 

In another milestone career achievement, Custis was recognized as one of the Top 20 Women in Maritime by Marine Log Magazine in January. 

Before coming general manager at Moran’s Wilmington office, she spent sixteen years as a ship-assist tug captain in Norfolk, Virginia. 

“It’s pretty wild. And it can get hairy fast,” Custis says. As captain, she operated the tug and was responsible for the safety of the crew, equipment, and environment. Her duties included monitoring weather conditions, navigational hazards, vessel traffic, and port evolutions.  

“Operations are calculated but can change quickly, and I had to adapt,” she says of maneuvering a tug alongside massive vessels, securing lines, and guiding ships safely into port. She worked equal-time rotations, spending two weeks aboard the tug with a three- to four-person crew followed by two weeks at home. 

As of July 2022, Custis now runs the show from ashore as the general manager of Moran Towing. “The maritime industry is dynamic,” she says. “It’s 24/7, and there are a lot of entities needed to make it all work.” 

Custis majored in art and psychology at Radford University in the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwest Virginia on a field hockey scholarship intending to become a therapist. But her roots on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, where her family spent time boating and sailing on the Chesapeake Bay, run deep. 

“Mom couldn’t drag me in from our dock for dinner,” she says. “I was too busy catching blue crabs and getting muddy.”  

Following graduation in 1999, Custis took time to regroup and began sailing with an uncle, helping him deliver sailboats up and down the East Coast. “A sailing trip to the Virgin Islands and I was hooked,” she says. Custis remained in the Virgin Islands for the next year, working as a deckhand on charter sailboats.  

Recognizing her niece’s mental and physical aptitude required for maritime work, Custis’s uncle encouraged her to attend one of the seven maritime academies in the United States. Custis chose Texas A&M Maritime Academy in Galveston, Texas, partly for the warm weather. She earned a bachelor’s degree in marine transportation and her U.S. Coast Guard Third Mate license, qualifying her to work aboard large ocean-going vessels. Custis completed the program in three years instead of the typical four, followed by rigorous exams, significant sea time, and a great deal of dedication. 

After graduation, Custis worked ships along the East Coast, in Alaska, and on the Great Lakes. Freezing cold temperatures were not the only uncomfortable situation. Often the only woman aboard, she was not immediately accepted into the boys’ club. 

“At the end of one stint, the captain told me he loved the effect I had on the crew,” she says. “I made the guys more civil. No throwing hard hats, no yelling, no screaming. I became a positive presence for the mariners.” 

That’s when Custis took control of her career path. “I didn’t just hope and let ten years go by to find myself in the same role,” she says. “I was diligent, clear about my path, and showed up with a good attitude.” Custis learned of an opening in Wilmington for general manager. “I was proactive and went after the role hard,” she says, beating out several male candidates. 

Custis describes her GM position as running a small business – with tugboats. In addition to crew leadership, she monitors vessel traffic in and out of port, coordinates with ship agents and pilots, schedules tug maintenance, oversees billing and payroll, manages human resources, and responds to emergencies. While customers sometimes assume the person in charge will be male, Custis says most ultimately don’t care. She leads with quick decision-making under pressure, critical thinking, strong communication skills, and the ability to multitask. 

Is the maritime industry for everyone? Custis says probably not. Women remain vastly underrepresented. According to a 2024 industry survey by the International Maritime Organization and the Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association, women account for 19% of the workforce of national maritime authorities, 16% of the surveyed private sector workforce, and just 1% of the total number of seafarers worldwide. 

Despite combatting stereotypes, the inherent danger of the job, and her constant concern for crew safety, Custis says it’s camaraderie that fuels her passion.   

“We put safety first,” she says. “Being a good person, being kind and fair, really goes a long way. At the end of the day, it’s taking care of the mariners and the assets and being a strong support system. I make myself available and show mutual respect. I know my team will look out for me because I look out for them.” 

To view more of photographer Madeline Gray’s work, go to madelinegrayphoto.com.

Want more WILMA? Click here to sign up for our WILMA newsletters and announcements.