Capt. Jay Rivera is a fully bilingual (Spanish and English) graduate of Texas A&M University at Galveston, Texas Maritime Academy. He graduated in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Marine Transportation, qualified, and completed testing for a US Coast Guard Third Mate Unlimited Any Gross Tons License in the same year. For the next seven years he sailed on various types and sizes of US Jones Act and internationally trading tank vessels in all the officer ranks. In 2003, he was eligible for and obtained a United States Coast Guard issued Master Unlimited Any Gross Tons License. Capt. Rivera began sailing under authority of that license in 2004 when he was assigned command of the motor tanker (M/T) Charleston, a 48,000 ton US flagged chemical tanker.

Early in 2005, Capt. Rivera was selected to the Aransas-Corpus Christi Pilots, where he served as a State Commissioned and Federally Licensed Harbor Pilot in the State of Texas for thirteen years; the last two years as President of the group. The Port of Corpus Christi is the fourth largest Port in the nation by tonnage. It handles the largest and deepest vessels calling upon the US Gulf Coast and is at the epicenter of the nation’s domestic crude oil and gas trade. In 2012, Capt. Rivera drafted the first Navigation and Safety Guidelines for the Port of Corpus Christi. He later played a major role in the acceptance, implementation, and ratification of these Guidelines by the Board of Commissioners for the Port of Corpus Christi Authority. This process also included presentations and testimony by him at Public Hearings held by the Board of Commissioners for the Port of Corpus Christi Authority. Since 2012, Capt. Rivera has been providing Marine Consultancy services as a maritime expert witness, developing ship/barge docks, LNG terminals, VLCC terminals, cargo claims, and ship channel design and ship channel modifications.