Tidewater Elects Bankston President, Koock, Ramey Are New VPs

Tidewater Inc., New Orleans, La., announced the election of Damon B. Bankston as president and chief operating officer, and Victor I. Koock and William J.

Ramey as vice presidents.

Mr. Bankston, former senior executive vice president and chief operating officer of Tidewater Inc., succeeds John P. Laborde who will remain as chairman and chief executive officer, a position he has held for the past 25 years.

A native of Dawson, Texas, and graduate of Louisiana State University, Mr. Bankston joined Tidewater Inc.—then named Tidewater Marine Service, Inc. — as sales manager in 1958, and in 1960 was promoted to vice president.

In 1965 he was named to the company's board of directors and three years later was elected executive vice president. In 1979 he became senior executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Mr. Bankston is currently a director of the Employers Information Service, Inc., and is a past chairman and member of the board of directors of the Offshore Marine Association and the National Ocean Industries Association.

Mr. Koock, vice president-legal and president of Pental Insurance Co. Ltd., the insurance subsidiary of Tidewater Inc., is in charge of the company's general legal affairs, including contract administration, admiralty, general civil law, government regulations, labor and claims.

A native of New York, N.Y., Mr. Koock earned a B.S. degree in biology from the University of Alabama and a law degree from the Loyola University School of Law. He joined Tidewater in 1968 as a staff attorney.

In 1972 he was appointed manager of Tidewater's contracts department and in 1977 was elected associate general counsel. The following year he was named manager of the legal department, and two years later was elected president of Pental in addition to manager of the legal department.

He is a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association and the Maritime Law Association.

As a new vice president of Tidewater Inc., and as a vice president of Tidewater Marine Service, Inc., Mr. Ramey will add administrative and operational duties to his responsibilities for the marine affiliate's activities in South America and the Caribbean.

A native of Shreveport, La., and a graduate of Louisiana State University, Mr. Ramey j o i n ed Tidewater in 1971 as a sales representative after having served as a vice president of Homco International of Houston.

In 1973 he was appointed managing director of Tidewater Middle East Marine, Inc. in Iran, and later served as area manager in the Persian Gulf and in West Africa as regional manager, based in Nigeria.

In 1977 he was promoted a vice president of Tidewater Marine.

Last year, he was named regional manager for all Latin America, excluding Lake Maracaibo.

Tidewater Inc. owns and operates the world's largest fleet of vessels serving the offshore energy industry and also explores for and produces oil and gas, and conducts air and natural gas compression operations, including engineering, fabrication, construction and operation of compressor stations and natural gas plants.