Limassol, Cyprus. Cruise technology provider cruisePAL has restructured its senior leadership team, separating long-term strategy from daily management and technology development as it expands internationally.
Sankar Ragavan has moved from president and chief executive officer to president, while Jimmy Lopez has assumed the role of chief executive officer. Chris Daly will remain chief technology officer.
Leadership responsibilities
Ragavan will oversee group-level strategy, investor relations and the platform’s long-term direction as president.
Lopez will lead cruisePAL’s executive management and day-to-day business operations as chief executive officer. Daly will continue to oversee the company’s technology roadmap, product development and innovation strategy.
The changes take effect immediately, the company said.
Expansion and platform development
cruisePAL said the restructuring is intended to clarify executive responsibilities as it broadens its international presence and works with cruise operators managing vessels of different sizes and types.
The company said the changes also reflect its development from a collection of maritime technology businesses into a unified cruise software platform for shipboard and shore-based operations.
“Jimmy and Chris have been integral to everything cruisePAL has built,” Ragavan said. He added that his work as president would include efforts to “forge the right partnerships and deliver real value to the cruise industry at scale”.
Executive backgrounds
Ragavan joined Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement in 2010 as director of information technology and founded MariApps Marine Solutions in 2014. He became chief digital officer of the Schulte Group in 2018 and was appointed cruisePAL president and chief executive officer in 2024, according to the company’s leadership profile.
Lopez co-founded US-based OnboarD Software in 2000. Before becoming chief executive officer, he served as cruisePAL’s managing director of operations, with responsibilities including sales, finance, business development and operational management.
Daly also co-founded OnboarD Software and has more than 30 years of experience in information technology and cruise software. He previously served as cruisePAL’s managing director of technology and helped lead its international development teams.
OnboarD acquisition
MariApps acquired a 60 per cent stake in OnboarD Software in 2022, while Lopez and Daly retained the remaining shares and continued to lead the company.
The majority acquisition was intended to combine OnboarD’s shipboard technology with cruise reservation, customer management and marine software from MariApps and Rescompany Systems.
