Cruise technology provider cruisePAL, which operates an office in Limassol as part of its international network, has restructured its senior leadership team as the company seeks to separate long-term strategic planning from day-to-day management and technology development. 

Under the leadership changes, which take effect immediately, Sankar Ragavan has moved from president and chief executive officer to president, with responsibility for group-level strategy, investor relations and the platform’s long-term direction. 

Meanwhile, Jimmy Lopez has assumed full responsibility as chief executive officer, taking control of the company’s executive leadership and daily business operations, while Chris Daly will continue as chief technology officer, overseeing cruisePAL’s technology roadmap, product development and innovation strategy. 

The company said the restructuring was designed to bring greater clarity to executive responsibilities as cruisePAL expands its international presence and works with cruise operators managing vessels of different sizes and types. 

At the same time, it reflects the company’s development from a collection of established maritime technology businesses into a more unified cruise software platform covering both shipboard and shore-based operations. 

“Jimmy and Chris have been integral to everything cruisePAL has built,” Ragavan said, adding that his focus as president would include efforts to “forge the right partnerships and deliver real value to the cruise industry at scale”. 

Ragavan joined Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement in 2010 as director of information technology before founding MariApps Marine Solutions in 2014. He was appointed chief digital officer of the Schulte Group in 2018 and became cruisePAL’s president and chief executive in 2024, according to the company’s leadership profile. 

Lopez, meanwhile, co-founded US-based OnboarD Software in 2000 and previously served as cruisePAL’s managing director of operations, with responsibilities spanning 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. Before taking the CTO role, he served as cruisePAL’s managing director of technology and helped lead its international development teams. 

MariApps acquired a 60 per cent stake in OnboarD Software in 2022, while Lopez and Daly retained the remaining shares at the time and continued to lead the company. The majority acquisition was intended to combine OnboarD’s shipboard technology with MariApps and Rescompany Systems’ cruise reservation, customer management and marine software. 

Subsequently, MariApps, Rescompany Systems and OnboarD Software launched cruisePAL as an integrated platform covering reservations, customer relations, property management, point-of-sale systems, maintenance, finance, safety and wider marine operations. 

The group says its combined cruise operations now support more than 150 clients and over 300 vessels, with recent deployments involving operators including Four Seasons Yachts, Coral Expeditions, Aqua Expeditions and Adventure Canada. 

In addition, the company’s international network includes locations in Singapore, Germany, India, Dubai, the United States and Limassol, where its Cyprus operation is based at Hanseatic House. 

The restructured leadership team will now be responsible for advancing cruisePAL’s goal of bringing hotel, guest and marine operations into a single cloud-supported digital ecosystem, while expanding the platform’s presence across the global cruise and yacht industries.