Renowned Salvage Expert Killed

Captain Rich Habib, salvage master and former managing director of TITAN Salvage, passed away January 10 in a snowboarding accident in Park City, Utah.

Rich graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in 1977 and spent seven years in the USCG, including a brief exchange post in the U.S. Navy. 

He transferred to the commercial maritime industry after his service and worked on heavy lift ships with Dock Express and Van Ommeren, quickly earning his unlimited master's license. Rich joined TITAN Salvage in 2001, working his way all the way up from salvor to director of salvage. He moved to Resolve Marine in 2008 as managing director for Europe, then returned to TITAN as managing director in 2011. He left TITAN again in 2014 when it merged with Svitzer Salvage.

As a senior salvage master, Rich headed numerous technical, risk-intensive operations over his years in the industry.

“[Rich] was instrumental in several high profile and successful salvages, including the APL Panama and Cougar Ace, and he helped lead the successful wreck removals of the A Turtle, Smart and Costa Concordia.  Rich was one of the most experienced and skilled salvage masters,” said Todd Busch, senior vice president and general manager of technical services at Crowley. 

Rich's finest moment may have been the raising of the Costa Concordia – a task many said could not be done (covered in The Maritime Executive Magazine in 2012).

“After Rich returned to Titan Salvage and headed up their global operations as managing director, he truly came into his own - winning some amazing salvage contracts around the world, none bigger than the Costa Concordia,” said Captain Nicholas Sloane, salvage master on the record-breaking project. Sloane considered Rich both a colleague and a good friend.

“When he asked if I was interested in leading the salvage operation, I jumped at the opportunity. Rich was a tower of strength throughout the 30-month operation - and certainly gave us his complete support when we were battling in the early months of the Concordia project. A lot of negative perceptions about the chance of success were doing the rounds. He was extremely proud of the success of the project - and truly deserved to be so.”

“The salvage and maritime industry have lost a giant - and a gentleman . . . he was respected by everyone - and shall be sorely missed by all,” Capt. Sloane said.

His associates remember him as a talented, personable negotiator and a consummate professional, unpretentious in manner, calm in the face of great difficulties. “He was proud of his salvage career but was also self-deprecating,” said Paris Mangriotis, engineering director and naval architect with London Offshore Consultants. “Rich was phlegmatic, and during the Costa Concordia wreck removal, he would often say 'it is what it is,' in response to the many challenges . . . This phrase was then adopted and began cropping up amongst all members of his team, reflecting their approach in general as they were rarely fazed by the scale of what they had begun to undertake.”

The International Salvage Union (ISU) also gave a statement mourning his loss.

“Not only did Rich prove his value and expertise as one of the most successful and well respected salvage masters of his time, but he also did it his own way, which at times was confusing, sometimes frustrating, but always successful.  To his family and close friends, we offer our most sincere and heartfelt condolences. While Rich left his indelible mark on the marine industry, we all lost a good friend,” said ISU president John A. Witte, Jr.

Rich has also been mourned in the Italian media, with obituaries appearing in La Nazione, Il Tirreno and Primocanale TV, reflecting national recognition of his role in the raising of the Concordia.

Rich was 60 years old. He is survived by his wife, Lindsay Malen, former director of business development for TITAN, and their daughter Isabella.

New Year 2016 – Habib family

If you would like to commemorate Rich’s life and times with a gift, donations are accepted for Isabella’s college fund here.

Charitable gifts on behalf of Rich and his family may also be sent to pet rescue society Nuzzles & Co.

Note from the Editor: On January 10, 2016, the MarEx and the maritime industry lost a great friend, Rich Habib. Seven weeks before his death, Rich and his wife, Lindsay Malen, were blessed with their newborn daughter, Isabella. It is with a heavy heart that we publish this story, and we send our condolences to the Habib family.