What Cooper/T. Smith does

Cooper/T. Smith, doing business as The Cooper Group, is a privately held maritime services conglomerate founded in 1905 and headquartered in Mobile, Alabama. The company is one of the oldest and largest stevedoring and maritime firms in the United States, operating on all three U.S. coasts and internationally in Mexico across at least ten U.S. states. Its core offerings are professional stevedoring, ship assist and towing, barge transportation and fleeting, terminal operations, warehousing, logistics, forestry, and shipyard/fabrication services, organized under wholly owned subsidiaries including Crescent Towing (tugboats) and Blakeley BoatWorks (vessel construction and repair), with a small restaurant portfolio also under the corporate umbrella. The business serves shipping companies, vessel operators, maritime carriers, and industrial logistics customers requiring integrated cargo movement from ship-side to inland storage.

The firm's technology stack is described as state-of-the-art equipment and automated facilities for cargo handling; in practice, this means modern ship-assist vessels and in-house shipbuilding rather than a software or platform layer. Crescent Towing is in the middle of a multi-year fleet renewal, commissioning 6,000 HP Tier 4 Z-drive tugboats from its captive Blakeley BoatWorks shipyard, with the M/V Kentucky delivered in early 2026 and four additional vessels scheduled for 2027, 2028, and 2029, bringing the fleet to 15 ASD tugs across New Orleans, Mobile, and Savannah. No APIs, software products, AI capabilities, or patents are disclosed.

The business model is enterprise B2B professional services revenue, with services contracted directly with shipping companies, logistics operators, and industrial clients on a quote basis. The go-to-market motion is enterprise field sales into maritime and logistics buyers at port locations. Marketing is modest, centered on the company website, periodic press releases, and a quarterly newsletter (Coop Scoop). Pricing is not publicly disclosed, and there are no publicly disclosed financial metrics, funding rounds, or investor information, consistent with a privately held, family or closely held ownership structure that has operated continuously for 120 years.

Name

Cooper/T. Smith

Legal name

The Cooper Group

Website

https://coopertsmith.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1905

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Cooper/T. Smith (The Cooper Group) is a privately held, 120-year-old stevedoring and maritime services firm headquartered in Mobile, Alabama, providing integrated cargo handling, tugboat, barge, terminal, warehousing, logistics, and shipyard services to shipping and industrial customers across all three U.S. coasts and in Mexico.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Maritime Stevedoring and Port Services

NAICS

Marine Cargo Handling (488320), Navigational Services to Shipping (488330), Ship and Boat Building (3366), Freight Transportation Arrangement (488510)

SIC

Water Transportation (4400), Arrangement Of Transportation Of Freight & Cargo (4731)

akta.pro primary industry

Container Stuffing/Unstuffing & Deconsolidation (CFS Services) (TLAHALAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Container Freight Stations (CFS) (TLALAJAC)

Keywords

• Maritime stevedoring services
• Tugboat towboat operations
• Barge transportation logistics
• Port terminal operations
• Shipyard vessel fabrication

Headquarters

HQ city

Mobile

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Stevedoring Services: Cargo handling and stevedoring services for ships at ports along all three U.S. coasts. Revenue generated through service contracts for loading and unloading cargo.
2. Tugboat & Towboat Operations: Ship assist and towing services through Crescent Towing fleet including ASD tugs. Services contracted for vessel maneuvering, push boat operations, and barge fleeting.
3. Barge & Logistics Services: Barge transportation, barge fleeting, and logistics services for cargo movement along waterways.
4. Terminal Operations: Terminal operations including floating terminals for cargo storage and transfer services.
5. Forestry Operations: Forestry operations as part of vertical integration for cargo handling.
6. Shipyard/Fabrication: Vessel repair and fabrication services including new vessel construction at Blakeley BoatWorks.
7. Warehousing: Warehouse storage services as part of the logistics and cargo handling operations.
8. Restaurant Operations: Restaurant operations under The Cooper Group umbrella.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Cooper/T. Smith, operating as The Cooper Group, is a maritime services firm that provides cargo handling (stevedoring), tugboat and towboat ship assist services, barge transportation and fleeting, terminal operations, warehousing, logistics, forestry, and shipyard/vessel fabrication services to shipping companies and industrial clients at ports along all three U.S. coasts and in Mexico. The firm operates an integrated maritime services portfolio anchored by its stevedoring heritage and its Crescent Towing and Blakeley BoatWorks subsidiaries.

Product overview

The Cooper Group operates as a maritime services conglomerate offering integrated stevedoring, logistics, and terminal operations across all three U.S. coasts and internationally in Mexico. The portfolio includes multiple operational divisions—stevedoring, tugboats and towboats (via subsidiary Crescent Towing), barges, terminal operations, warehousing, forestry, and shipyard/fabrication (via subsidiary Blakeley BoatWorks)—alongside a restaurant subsidiary. The core offering is maritime cargo handling and transportation services, supplemented by vessel construction and repair capabilities. This is a diversified service business rather than a software product platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Stevedoring
• Logistics
• Tugboats & Towboats
• Barges
• Terminal Operations
• Shipyard/Fabrication
• Warehousing
• Forestry Operations
• Restaurants

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Blakeley BoatWorkscoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerOngoing partnership for construction of new vessels. Crescent Towing is having tugboats built at Blakeley BoatWorks in Mobile, Alabama, including 6,000 HP Tier 4 Z-drive tugboats for the Mississippi River operations. Multiple vessels are being constructed including Hull 115 and additional vessels scheduled for delivery through 2029.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Kirby Corporation: Publicly traded inland marine transportation and diesel engine services company operating the largest U.S. tank barge fleet. Comparable to Cooper/T. Smith's barge transportation and fleeting operations, with overlapping petrochemical and bulk cargo customers.
• APM Terminals (Maersk): Global terminal operating arm of A.P. Moller-Maersk, one of the largest container terminal operators in the world. Comparable as a U.S. port stevedoring and terminal competitor, but operates at much larger scale and as part of an integrated ocean carrier.
• Ports America: Largest U.S. terminal operator and stevedoring company, with operations across multiple U.S. ports. Comparable to Cooper/T. Smith as a stevedoring and terminal handling peer serving the same enterprise shipping customer base.

Direct peers

• Harley Marine Services: U.S. marine transportation company operating tugboats and barges along the West Coast and inland waterways. Comparable to Cooper/T. Smith's tugboat and barge transportation operations, with overlapping petroleum and bulk cargo customers.
• Bouchard Transportation: Privately held U.S. tug and barge operator transporting petroleum and bulk cargo along the East Coast and Gulf. Comparable to Cooper/T. Smith's barge transportation and Crescent Towing tugboat operations, with similar privately held, multi-generational ownership profile.
• McAllister Towing: Privately held U.S. tugboat and ship-assist operator with a fleet serving major Atlantic and Gulf ports. Direct comparable to Crescent Towing in vessel class, ship-assist service offering, and East Coast/Gulf geographic overlap.
• Moran Towing Corporation: Long-established U.S. tugboat operator providing ship assist, barge towing, and related marine services across East Coast and Gulf ports. Comparable to Cooper/T. Smith's Crescent Towing subsidiary on tugboat fleet, harbor operations, and customer overlap.
• Foss Maritime: U.S. tugboat, barge, and marine transportation company operating on the West Coast and Pacific. Comparable to Cooper/T. Smith's tugboat and barge operations, particularly for ship-assist and harbor services, with overlap on Pacific coast ports.
• Ceres Terminals: Privately held stevedoring and terminal management company operating across multiple U.S. ports. Comparable to Cooper/T. Smith's core stevedoring and terminal operations business, with similar customer base of ocean carriers.
• SSA Marine (Carrix): One of the largest independent marine terminal operators and stevedores in the Americas, operating at ports across the U.S. and internationally. Direct peer to Cooper/T. Smith's stevedoring and terminal operations, with similar multi-port B2B service model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/ctsgroup

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cooper/T. Smith