Turrell Named Director of NTSB Office of Marine Safety

Longtime mariner and investigator Morgan Turrell has been named director of the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) Office of Marine Safety effective March 1.

The office investigates major marine accidents within the United States and its territories, as well as accidents involving U.S.-flagged vessels worldwide.

Turrell began his career at the NTSB in 2003 as a nautical operations investigator. From 2007 to 2010 he served as Vice President of Marine Investigations for Princess Cruises, where he investigated casualties aboard ships worldwide. Turrell returned to the NTSB’s Office of Marine Safety in 2010. In 2014, Turrell was selected as chief of investigations and in 2017 he was promoted to deputy director. Turrell has served as acting director of Marine Safety since March 2020.

Captain Turrell is a graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy and served as a licensed deck officer, including Master, on a variety of commercial vessels including tankers, container ships, roll-on/roll-off vessels, research ships and bulk carriers.

Turrell earned an MBA from Pepperdine University and a master's degree from George Mason University in transportation policy, operations and logistics.