Ships of the Sea Podcast host Molly Taylor interviews Lynn Brennan retired assistant port director for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Savannah, about her 33-year career and the port’s growth to nearly 6 million TEU.

Brennan explains CBP’s seaport responsibilities, working with importers, exporters, terminal operators, and enforcing rules for about 40 agencies, plus using technology and trusted-shipper programs to target high-risk cargo. She shares seizure stories involving counterfeit luxury goods and pharmaceuticals, dangerous consumer products (hoverboards, Aqua Dots), narcotics hidden in tuna cans, cement mixers, and wood, smuggled gold coins, endangered-species items like a tortoiseshell-inlaid piano, and a 1999 case of 132 smuggled Chinese immigrants.

Brennan outlines CBP career paths, CBP’s origins in 1789, the Savannah Custom House history, and her post-retirement volunteering and maritime networking through the Propeller Club and SERAC.

The Ships of the Sea podcast is recorded on location at the Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum, housed in the historic William Scarbrough House, an elegant example of early Greek Revival architecture in the South. Built in 1819 for William Scarbrough, a prominent shipping merchant and the first president of the Savannah Steamship Company, the museum showcases a remarkable collection of ship models, paintings, and maritime antiques. In addition to its exquisite interior, the museum features the largest private gardens within Savannah’s historic district, designed to reflect a typical 19th-century parlor garden.

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Education and Group Programs

Meet the Production Team Dee Daniels Media

FIND A FAVORITE SPOT IN THIS EPISODE:

00:00 Welcome to Ships of the Sea

00:20 Meet Lynn Brennan

01:21 From Import Specialist Up

02:55 College and Career Pivot

05:06 What Port Directors Do

07:26 Inside Cargo Exams

08:10 Wild Seizure Stories

12:51 Stress and Mission Shift

13:44 Careers Across CBP

16:04 Tariffs and Classification

18:06 Customs History 1789

22:25 Tech and Trusted Trade

24:28 Supply Chain Trust

24:53 Human Smuggling Bust

26:53 Creative Drug Concealment

29:18 Endangered Piano Seizure

31:40 Savannah Customs House History

34:48 Tours and Modern CBP

36:51 Careers and Entry Paths

39:40 Life After Retirement

40:26 SERAC and Relationships

42:43 Museum Support Outro