Stylianos Papageorgiou of Lomar Labs joins Nick and Raal to explain how a ship owner can help maritime startups move from promising prototypes to usable technology. The conversation covers the Compass programme, onboard testing, energy transition, autonomous systems, seafarer engagement, and why innovation only matters when it solves operational problems.

• 00:27 Introduction to Stylianos Papageorgiou and Lomar Labs
• 01:24 Lomar’s 50-year history and appetite for change
• 02:42 Episode partner: GTT Marine
• 03:21 Why Lomar built its own venture lab
• 09:35 Using a changing fleet as a testbed
• 11:34 How Lomar Labs works with startups
• 14:08 Choosing problems worth solving
• 16:14 Building the Compass programme
• 17:56 R&D, innovation, and procurement
• 20:38 The three pillars: technical risk, commercial readiness, and funding
• 25:40 Portfolio focus: future of work, energy, and emissions
• 29:47 Testing technology on ships without overwhelming operations
• 31:09 Seafarer feedback and onboard experimentation
• 33:41 What makes a startup worth backing
• 37:22 Commercialisation, pricing, and market realities
• 39:15 Regulation, timing, and the energy transition
• 46:46 Future of work at sea
• 49:45 Autonomous navigation and alarm overload
• 51:10 Signal Fusion, behavioural data, and human judgement
• 53:27 Automated audit trails and the limits of measurement
• 54:01 The long-term vision for Lomar Labs
• 55:56 How shipping can better support innovation
• 58:23 How startups and shipping companies can reach Lomar Labs

This episode begins with Stylianos Papageorgiou, managing director of Lomar Labs, drawing a sharp line between R&D and innovation: one creates knowledge, the other turns it into viable businesses. It is a useful distinction for shipping, where promising technology often struggles to survive contact with operational reality.

Nick and Raal explore why Lomar built its own venture lab rather than joining an accelerator or investing through a fund. Stylianos explains how the Compass programme gives startups structured access to ships, crews, class, flag, and commercial feedback — without demanding exclusivity, discounted first units, or shared IP.

The conversation moves from model to mechanics: technical de-risking, commercial readiness, funding pathways, and the floating laboratory Lomar uses to test modular technology onboard without disrupting day-to-day operations. There is also a clear focus on seafarers, who are not treated as passive subjects of innovation but as critical users whose feedback can shape whether a product works.

The episode closes on regulation, energy transition, autonomous systems, and founder discipline. Stylianos argues that startups should solve problems shipping genuinely values, not simply wait for regulation to force adoption. For shipowners, the lesson is equally pragmatic: innovation needs managed risk, real assets, and enough patience to let useful ideas mature.

This episode of Undocked is brought to you by GTT Marine.

The Great Integration, a new report from Danalec and Thetius, looks at how fragmented systems are eroding decision quality across shipping — and what owners can do about it.
Learn more at gttmarine.fr.

This week, Raal and Nick catch up as Posidonia 2026 gets into full swing. With Nick reporting live from Athens and Raal experiencing Posidonia FOMO from afar, the conversation explores what’s really happening beneath the headlines.

From the explosion of AI messaging across the exhibition floor to the technologies that are quietly moving from concept to commercial reality, this episode separates hype from substance.

They discuss why governance is becoming the defining challenge for AI adoption, how simulation technology is reaching new levels of realism, why condition-based maintenance may finally be having its moment, and what recent industry deals tell us about the future direction of maritime software.

Along the way, they examine why alternative fuels seem to have disappeared from centre stage and what has replaced them as shipping's immediate priority.

Chapters

00:00 Live from Posidonia: Raal's missing, Nick's roaming

02:00 AI everywhere: genuine innovation or marketing necessity?

05:00 What separates serious AI solutions from AI wrappers

09:00 From ideas to products: when does innovation become commercial reality?

12:00 Why shipping only solves problems when they become unavoidable

14:00 Hot or Not: the technologies dominating Posidonia 2026

17:00 Alternative fuels are out. Vessel performance is in.

18:00 Simulation technology is getting frighteningly realistic

23:00 Why great simulations don't always need great technology

26:00 AI governance moves from theory to business priority

28:00 Kaiko's acquisition and what it says about maritime software consolidation

38:00 Condition-based maintenance may finally be ready for prime time

41:00 Why inspections are becoming valuable data sources

44:00 Looking ahead to Bergen Shipping Conference

This episode is brought to you by KVH. Delivering resilient connectivity, data, and insights to keep maritime operations connected, informed, and moving, wherever you are. Learn more at kvh.com.

Nick and Raal reunite after weeks on the road to discuss the growing pressures reshaping shipping: geopolitical instability, seafarers operating in conflict zones, AI-driven decision-making, and the fragility of global supply chains. The conversation explores why resilience — operational, human, and digital — is rapidly overtaking efficiency as shipping’s defining priority.

• 00:00 A long-overdue hosts-only episode
• 01:39 IMEC and “People at the Helm”
• 04:21 Seafarers in conflict zones
• 07:27 Real-time information and crew psychology
• 10:34 Geopolitics and rerouted supply chains
• 15:33 Decision-making under pressure
• 19:11 Welfare support and trust in AI
• 21:59 Voyage optimisation and supervised automation
• 30:15 AI adoption gaps onboard
• 35:25 Maritime AI and fragmented data
• 46:02 Vendor lock-in and cloud dependency
• 55:50 Digital twins and organisational knowledge
• 01:02:19 Email overload and operational culture

Nick and Raal return for a rare hosts-only conversation following several weeks of conferences, travel, and near-misses in airports and hotels. The discussion opens with reflections from IMEC’s “People at the Helm” conference, where shipowners, unions, welfare organisations, and employers gathered to discuss the realities facing seafarers in an increasingly unstable world.

A major theme throughout the episode is geopolitics and what it now means for maritime operations. From the Red Sea to the Strait of Hormuz, the pair explore how conflict risk is reshaping assumptions around global trade, crewing, and operational resilience. They discuss the uncomfortable reality that merchant seafarers are increasingly exposed to direct geopolitical risk while supply chains continue to rely on globally fragmented ownership, flags, and labour models.

The conversation then turns toward resilience — not just in trade routes, but in people and decision-making. Nick and Raal examine how rerouted voyages, longer sailing distances, and constant operational pressure are changing the demands placed on crews. That leads into a wider discussion around training, fatigue, welfare support, and whether existing maritime frameworks were ever designed for the level of disruption now facing the industry.

The second half of the episode focuses on AI, voyage optimisation, and the “human in the loop” problem. Drawing on recent research into RPM optimisation and supervised automation, Nick explains why sophisticated AI recommendations often fail to translate into operational behaviour onboard. Workload, alarm fatigue, fragmented systems, and competing priorities all contribute to the growing execution gap between software and shipboard reality.

The episode closes with a broader discussion about digital infrastructure, vendor lock-in, and AI-enabled organisational knowledge. From cloud dependency to digital twins, Nick and Raal explore how maritime businesses may eventually codify operational judgement and experience — while questioning how much human expertise can truly be replicated by machines.

This episode of Undocked is brought to you by Lloyd’s Maritime Academy.

The future of shipping is being shaped right now — from AI and decarbonisation to digital operations. Lloyd’s Maritime Academy offers forward-looking courses designed to help maritime professionals build practical expertise for the industry ahead. Download the 2026 here.