mariners - watermen - entrepreneurs united to improve the lives of those in our communities

James Jaber (CEO/Captain/Founder): James has worked in the San Francisco Bay since 2012 and throughout California prior to that. A life-long entrepreneur, Mr. Jaber was founding member of California Parasailing, which brought parasailing to Lake Tahoe. During his time there, Mr. Jaber helped California Parasailing grow to five locations throughout California. Subsequent to California Parasailing, Mr. Jaber built a successful action video production business and a marketing consultancy. In 2012, Mr. Jaber joined Marine Express as vessel captain, operating supply vessels from outside the Golden Gate Bridge to the inland waters of the Bay. During his time operating on the Bay, Mr. Jaber recognized the opportunity for a small, independent ferry provider, and PROP was born. James has held a USCG Captain’s license for over 20 years.

Alex Kryska (COO): Alex has work with Prop from 2017 to Present. Alex oversees client services and operations. Prior to Prop Mr. Kryska served in a senior business development and operations management at a variety of client service-based organizations including Director of Operations and Business services for a security services provider to the Transportation Security Administration where he managed 1,000 employees serving 16 million customers annually at SF International Airport. Mr. Kryska was also a fleet manager for the Military Sealift Command in Washington DC. Alex currently lives in San Francisco with his wife and two children. Mr. Kryska is a graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy and began his professional career as a ship broker in San Francisco. He also holds an MBA from San Francisco State.

Ray Duran (Fleet Manager): Ray brings a wealth of experienced leadership and team dynamics to Prop’s daily dockside operations. He holds a current USCG 100-Ton Inland/Near Coastal Master’s license and has logged more than 20 years operating on San Francisco Bay and coastal waters including competitive sailing, onboard access for persons with disabilities and whale watching/eco-tours in the Gulf of the Farallones Marine Sanctuary. Among his responsibilities are vendor relations, vessel maintenance coordination and active interface with the United States Coast Guard to ensure that all Prop vessels are up to date and fully compliant with strict Federal Regulations set for safety and mechanical soundness. In addition, Ray is responsible for the recruitment, training, scheduling and oversight of Prop Captains and Deckhands and sets the highest possible standards for safety, performance, onboard crew management and passenger safety.

Rob Fyfe (Founding Board Member): Prior to Prop, Mr. Fyfe was a partner in the Fyfe Group, LLC and Fibrwrap Construction. These companies were acquired by Aegion Corporation in 2011. Rob was a key contributor to the design and implementation of the rehabilitation of Pier 2 at Fort Mason. He continues to have strong relationships in the Engineering and Maritime construction field in the S.F. Bay Area and provides PROP with critical vessel design and engineering support. Mr. Fyfe has an MBA from Columbia and EMBA from UC Berkeley.

Olivier L’abbe (Co-founder/Board Member): Mr. L’abbe has been leading sales teams in Silicon Valley for the past decade. Most recently he was Director of Sales at Fliptop, which was recently acquired by LinkedIn. He has used his skills and experiences to provide PROP with business development, client acquisition and client retention foundation that has helped PROP to continue to grow and expand. Before working in technology Olivier worked for several years in wealth management for UBS and Smith Barney. He graduated from the University of Davis, California with a B.S. in Managerial Economics.

Rachelle Chong provides outside legal counsel and strategic consulting for PROP. Rachelle served as a Commissioner of the California Public Utilities Commission from 2006-2009 for Governor Schwarzenegger. She also served as Commissioner of the Federal Communication Commission in 1994-1997, appointed by President Bill Clinton. Rachelle has been advising PROP in obtaining necessary regulatory and local permits for ferry transportation in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area. She is a licensed California lawyer, a state registered lobbyist and a regulatory specialist at the CPUC.

PROP Crew: PROP SF has assembled the most talented and capable crew of experienced, professional mariners on San Francisco Bay. All PROP captains hold advanced USCG Captain’s licenses and are rigorously trained for safe, high-speed operations aboard Prop vessels. Captains and deckhands undergo extensive, and on-going, training for vessel operations, safety responses, passenger relationship and customer service. All crew members are required to pass a background check, USCG approved drug test, are fully vaccinated and have received their booster shot, and are subject to an on-ongoing random drug screening program.

Among this diverse, elite team of professional mariners are a career USCG boatswain’s mate, former Blue & Gold and Red & White fleet captains, a USCG-approved vessel instructor, current/ former cadets from the California Maritime Academy along with many other unique and highly qualified men and women dedicated to their craft.