Eric Stolzenberg has been appointed director of the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) Office of Marine Safety. He assumed the role on July 27.
The Office of Marine Safety is responsible for investigating major marine accidents in the U.S. and its territories, as well as those involving U.S.-flagged vessels operating internationally.
Stolzenberg joined the NTSB in 2008 as an engineering investigator. He served as investigator-in-charge and technical group chairman on numerous marine accident cases, including the 2015 sinking of the cargo ship El Faro, vessel bridge strikes in Baltimore and Manhattan, and the Titan submersible tragedy, according to the agency.
He was appointed chief of marine product development in 2018 and promoted to deputy director in 2021. Stolzenberg had served as acting director of the Office of Marine Safety since March 2024.
Stolzenberg holds a bachelor’s degree in naval architecture from the New York State Maritime College and an engineering officer license. Before joining the NTSB, he sailed in the U.S. Merchant Marine for eight years and spent over a decade as a naval architect and marine engineer in the private sector, ultimately serving as assistant chief naval architect at a vessel design firm, NTSB said.
