Team Services is growing and that growth starts with great people. We’re excited to introduce Sean Ragains, who has joined the company as Director of Marine Operations, bringing decades of hands-on experience across nearly every corner of the maritime industry, from shipyards and component manufacturing to carrier and liquid operations. It’s a background that gives him a rare vantage point: he’s sat on the customer side of this exact relationship and now he’s leading it.
For Sean, this isn’t a new relationship. He first came to know Team Services while working on the carrier side of the business as a partner, where part of his job was deciding which third-party tankerman providers to trust.
“I had gone through the process of deciding who was going to be partner for third-party tankering,” Sean said. “Team Services was that number one. I felt comfortable. I knew them, trusted them, it was a really good relationship, and it served us well.”
In other words, before Sean ever worked for Team Services, he hired Team Services, evaluating us the same way any customer would, and choosing Team as the best in the business.
That trust, built over years on the customer side of the table, is a big part of what drew him on board. But so did something less often talked about in the industry: Team Services is family-owned.
“I don’t think enough is said about that in the industry,” Sean said. “I’ve worked for a couple of different companies, but a family-owned business gives more people a voice. You can affect things in a greater way and have that communication with ownership — you understand where the company is headed and how you are a part of it.”
A Vision Built on Depth, Not Just Scale
Ask Sean where he wants to take Team Services’ marine operations over the next year or two, and the answer isn’t about getting bigger, it’s about getting better.
“I’m not trying to be the biggest. I want us to be the best,” Sean said. “When you try to be the biggest, you end up an inch deep and a mile wide.”
Instead, his focus is on strengthening the core values that have defined Team Services from the start — and closing a gap he sees across the industry: the space between experienced veterans and the next generation of tankermen.
“There’s a big gap between the guys that have been here forever and guys that are coming up new,” he said. “My goal is to enhance our core values, train up the next generation, and continue to strive to be the best that we can be.”
That commitment to tankerman training is one Sean sees as core to Team Services’ identity — not a side program, but part of how the company builds its marine operations for the long haul.
Culture as a Growth Strategy
Sean points to something less visible than contracts or client counts as the real engine behind Team Services’ momentum: tenure. In an industry where the average career lifespan of a tankerman is five to ten years, Team Services holds onto people longer than most, and Sean says that’s not an accident.
“That speaks to the culture,” he said. “In order for us to be the best, you have to have a strong culture, because that culture attracts the best. People who take pride in their work, who are hard workers — they want to be in a good culture. My vision is to elevate our standard and keep looking at people who can elevate us.”
It’s that customer’s-eye view that shapes how Sean thinks about the job now.
Redefining What “Partnership” Really Means
If there’s one word Sean thinks the industry overuses — and often gets wrong — it’s partnership.
“Partnership to me is two entities that are invested together,” he said. “It doesn’t matter about the location, from Brownsville to Mobile, we’re all in this together.”
That philosophy, he says, comes down to one simple standard: make the customer’s job easier, not harder.
“Our job, our goal, is to make our customer’s job easier, not harder,” Sean said. “If we make our customer’s job easier, they want to work with people who do that. Growth is going to be natural if we continue upholding our core values and striving to be the best we can be.”
Living It, Not Just Working It
Sean carries a piece of advice from a mentor that has stuck with him: if you want to succeed in this business, it can’t just be a job. You have to live it.
“If you look at the mariner out on the water, the folks in operations, the folks on the commercial side, the folks in our logistics group. You’ve got to live it if you want to be successful,” Sean said. “That’s what I’d say encompasses our team. It’s not a job. We have a team that lives it.”
It’s a philosophy that runs from the top of the organization to the crews on the water, and it’s exactly why Sean keeps coming back to the same idea: make the customer’s job easier, not harder. He’s seen that promise from the other side of the table. Now he’s the one making sure Team Services keeps it.
Welcome aboard, Sean.
About Team Services
Team Services, LLC is a Gulf Coast-based provider of product handling logistics and staffing for marine, facility, and offshore operations. Founded in 2007, Team Services partners with clients in the oil & gas, chemical, and maritime industries to deliver consistent, well-trained crews and a seamless operational fit. The company’s approach centers on three pillars: training and experience, safety leadership, and seamless integration into a client’s existing procedures — all built to bring stability and confidence to every job site.
