The Connecticut Port Authority on Thursday announced it has hired U.S. Coast Guard veteran Eric Dussault of Old Saybrook to be its maritime development director, a newly created position.

Dussault, who starts on Friday, will be responsible for managing the quasi-public agency’s Small Harbors Improvement Projects Program, or SHIPP, port and harbor dredging projects, Pilot Commission administration and coordination of state and federal maritime grants and initiatives, according to a statement from the port authority.

Some of that work was previously handled by Andrew Lavigne, the port authority’s former manager of business development and special projects, who left last year for a job with the state Department of Economic and Community Development.

Dussault comes to the port authority from American Cruise Lines, where he worked for nine years, most recently as director of port operations. He is a licensed 100-ton captain and worked as a Sea Tow operations manager and captain in central Connecticut for nearly 10 years.