This week, Nick and Raal ask whether bunker suppliers could become an unlikely force for crew welfare, examine why the world map may finally change, and explore South Korea’s bet on sovereign AI. They also unpack mounting AI safety concerns before ending with shipping’s newest minimal-techno artist: Handysize.

CHAPTERS

• 01:32 Could bad crew welfare cost shipowners their bunkers?
• 07:22 Why maritime suppliers may have more leverage than we think
• 11:36 Connecting crew performance, maintenance and procurement data
• 14:57 Why doesn’t better training affect insurance premiums?
• 19:25 Can maritime risk data drive prevention, not just pricing?
• 21:33 The end of the Mercator map?
• 30:42 South Korea’s plan to make AI a public utility
• 43:20 AI insiders sound the alarm over the race to superintelligence
• 52:01 Would AI regulation protect incumbents?
• 01:01:17 Shipping gets a techno artist: Handysize and 14 Knots

The episode opens with an unusual proposal for tackling one of shipping’s most persistent welfare problems: what if suppliers simply refused to do business with operators that mistreat or fail to pay their crews?

Raal highlights Suzun Marine Fuels’ move to include crew-welfare provisions in bunker contracts, allowing it to refuse or cancel supply where operators have been reported over issues including unpaid wages, poor conditions, forced labour or modern slavery.

That leads to a wider discussion about the overlooked influence of maritime suppliers and how unpaid wages can be used as a signal for financial distress at the organisation-level.

From there, they turn to P&I and loss prevention, asking why investment in crew competency and training is still so weakly connected to the way maritime risk is priced.

From there, Nick gives a brief history of the Mercator map and its proposed replacement: The Equal Earth projection.

The second half moves into AI. South Korea’s plans for a sovereign, widely available generative-AI capability prompt a discussion about what happens when AI starts to look less like a software subscription and more like national infrastructure.

That optimism is followed by the darker side of the AI race. Raal tracks a rapid sequence of resignations, safety warnings and calls for greater oversight from researchers and industry leaders.

They finish on a less apocalyptic note with former Shipfix co-founder Antoine Grisset’s return to electronic music as Handysize, including his debut track 14 Knots, dedicated to women at sea.

You can support Handysize and women in maritime here:

EPISODE PARTNER

This episode is sponsored by OneOcean

Weather has always shaped shipping. But what happens when conditions become more extreme, less predictable, and the consequences start reaching far beyond the voyage plan?

On 29 September, Digital Ship Media and OneOcean are bringing together senior maritime leaders to explore what that means in practice - from vessel performance, cargo and fuel consumption to schedules, crew wellbeing and commercial decisions.

You’ll hear from Capt. Harpreet Singh, COO of Suisse Atlantique, and Peter Turner from OneOcean, in a discussion moderated by Nick.

Register here and join the discussion on 29 September.

Nick returns from SMM Hamburg with a read on where maritime innovation is actually moving: wind propulsion, nuclear, AI, class and new technology hubs. Raal then digs into digital judgement, conflicting data sources and the return of spreadsheets thanks to AI, before the episode ends with a reminder of shipping’s extraordinary role in everyday abundance.

CHAPTERS

• 01:07 How SMM is changing
• 03:21 The Thetius Top 150
• 07:52 Wind propulsion goes mainstream
• 12:39 Maritime AI before the AI boom
• 16:27 Meet the “meat proxy”
• 17:39 Class as an innovation enabler
• 28:25 What people at SMM really think comes next
• 32:03 Shipping’s messy, contextual data problem
• 35:12 Who owns the authoritative version of reality?
• 37:03 Moving decisions closer to the frontline
• 41:32 Critical thinking becomes digital judgement
• 43:16 Are spreadsheets making a comeback?
• 47:22 Ordinary abundance
• 50:13 Pineapples, spices and what shipping lets us take for granted

Nick is back from SMM Hamburg, where the exhibition increasingly looks less like a showcase for engines and heavy equipment alone and more like a cross-section of shipping’s technological transition. Using the newly launched Thetius Top 150 as a lens, he picks out several signals from the week: nuclear propulsion moving towards a credible adoption pathway, wind-assisted propulsion shifting decisively from demonstration to commercial scale, and classification societies becoming important enablers rather than inadvertent bottlenecks for new technology.

Although maritime has been applying machine learning, computer vision and predictive systems for years, much of the industry remains cautious about the current generative AI boom. Nick’s conversations at SMM underline the contradiction nicely: almost everyone thinks AI matters, but nobody wants to be the person predicting AI.

That leads into a broader discussion about shipping’s increasingly connected data environment. As vessel, port, customs and operational systems exchange more information, the challenge is no longer simply collecting data. It is deciding which source deserves authority when those systems disagree.

This has one unexpected consequence of generative AI: the possible return of the spreadsheet. Tools that once required specialist software or analyst support can increasingly be built and interrogated quickly, although data governance and validation remain significant constraints.

The episode closes with a reminder of the once-extraordinary luxuries that shipping now enables us to take for granted as everyday essentials.

EPISODE PARTNER

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

Every integration RFP in shipping asks for "a single source of truth". Almost no fleet actually wants one in practice. Why? Because, as one operator told the team at Thetius, the moment you force everything onto one platform you risk sacrificing best-in-class functionality.

The Great Integration, the new Thetius and GTT Marine report, makes the case for something more achievable — a consistent view across the systems your teams already trust. Recommended listening for anyone running an integration RFP.

Download it today.

Steve Hemmings joins Nick and Raal to examine why maritime IT maturity still lags other sectors, what shipping can learn from cruise and banking, and why cyber resilience, asset visibility, data architecture and change management matter. They also explore AI, legacy systems and the organisational foundations needed for meaningful digital transformation.

CHAPTERS

• 00:27 Introducing Steve Hemmings
• 02:05 Why maritime needs to take IT more seriously
• 03:45 Insight’s evolution from hardware to transformation
• 10:34 Lessons from banking and open standards
• 18:38 What a mature maritime IT organisation looks like
• 22:52 Building an accurate vessel IT asset inventory
• 27:58 Turning maritime data into business value
• 32:58 What cargo shipping can learn from cruise
• 43:17 AI adoption and building a culture of innovation
• 45:51 The human side of technology transformation
• 50:40 Legacy platforms, AI and the future architecture

The episode opens with a fundamental question: why does maritime still struggle to treat IT as a strategic capability rather than a support function? Steven Hemmings, Client CTO for Insight’s EMEA maritime team, explains how Insight moved from supplying technology into transformation and integration work, including its experience supporting the AROYA project with Columbia Group.

The conversation then turns to what maritime can learn from other sectors. Drawing on his early career at the Bank of England, Steve argues that banking’s progress on standards depended as much on relationships, behaviour and sustained dialogue as it did on technology.

Cruise provides a useful reference point.

Better onboard infrastructure, stronger connectivity and clear revenue incentives have pushed cruise operators towards more mature digital environments. Those foundations matter increasingly for cargo shipping too, particularly as IT and operational technology converge and cyber exposure grows.

The discussion closes on two closely related challenges: AI and people. Legacy platforms may constrain what shipping companies can do next, but replacing everything at once is rarely realistic. Building around existing systems, creating stronger data foundations and introducing new capabilities incrementally may offer a more practical route.

EPISODE PARTNER

This episode is partnered with Insight, in partnership with SmartSea.

The most resilient fleets don't wait for a cyber incident to start thinking about security — they design it from day one.

Under NIS2, maritime is classed as essential infrastructure, and IMO's cyber risk rules already require security to be built into a vessel's Safety Management System.

Insight and SmartSea help operators meet both by embedding cyber resilience directly into everyday operational workflows — so compliance isn't a separate project, it's how the fleet already works.

Because the strongest fleets are resilient by design, not by reaction.

Future-proof your digital defences with Insight and SmartSea.

This week, Nick and Raal examine what happens when maritime technology moves faster than the legal frameworks around it, from remote ship control and pollution liability to cyber risk and seaworthiness.

CHAPTERS

• 00:23 Best-of-breed software and the importance of good data
• 04:51 Maritime fragmentation, taxonomy and interoperability
• 08:08 Why older ships can be easier to integrate
• 10:26 Fleet interoperability and the economics of maritime SaaS
• 14:27 Who pays when an autonomous tanker spills oil?
• 21:42 Masters, fatigue and remote pilotage
• 28:03 Search and rescue, COLREGs and autonomous ships
• 31:15 Cyber risk, software updates and seaworthiness
• 38:04 Anglo-Eastern’s approach to fleet-wide cyber security
• 44:52 AI, cyber attacks and a changing threat landscape
• 49:40 Wilson Sons’ long-term technology investment strategy
• 55:53 SMM, the Digital Ship Summit and the Thetius Top 150

The episode opens with Nick reflecting on a webinar with GTT Marine and Dorian LPG examining one of shipping technology’s recurring questions: whether owners should consolidate around a single platform or assemble a best-of-breed technology stack.

That leads into the structural fragmentation of shipping itself. Different vessels, vendors, ranks, departments and even fleets can describe the same things differently, making interoperability as much an organisational problem as a technical one.

The main discussion turns to autonomous and remotely operated ships, prompted by the question of who would be liable for pollution when control no longer sits conventionally on board. From there, the legal questions multiply.

• Who is the master when control is divided between people and autonomous systems?
• How do hours-of-rest rules apply to shore-based operators? Does a pilot still need to board?
• What happens to search-and-rescue obligations on an unmanned vessel?
• And which jurisdiction governs somebody controlling a ship from another country?

Cyber risk brings the same tension into seaworthiness. The discussion considers whether poor cyber risk management could ultimately call a vessel’s seaworthiness into question, and what happens when software updates can materially alter how a ship performs after it has sailed.

Anglo-Eastern’s work with CyberOwl provides a more immediate operational example: rather than replacing the different systems across a large third-party-managed fleet, the aim is to create a consistent cyber-risk layer capable of working with the infrastructure already on board.

EPISODE PARTNER

This episode is sponsored by Insight, in partnership with SmartSea.

Every voyage means thousands of small decisions — on fuel burn, maintenance timing, emissions, and cost. Made well, they compound. Made blind, they compound too.

Insight and SmartSea help operators bring route optimisation and predictive maintenance into everyday operations through one connected digital environment — turning sustainability and efficiency from a separate initiative into simply how the fleet performs, voyage after voyage.

Because the best gains aren't the ones you chase once. They're the ones built into how you already operate.

Take the next step with Insight.

Nick Chubb and Raal Harris examine how extreme heat is reshaping trade, from Rhine water levels and Panama Canal draught limits to pressure on energy systems. They also explore Drift Energy’s hydrogen-generating sailing vessels, Singapore’s Pier 71 startup programme, and the EU’s emerging rules on AI transparency and human oversight.

CHAPTERS

• 04:18 Rhine water levels and inland shipping
• 07:04 Panama Canal drought and draught restrictions
• 10:17 Drift Energy and green hydrogen at sea
• 18:39 Maritime innovation and the ocean economy
• 23:18 Singapore’s Pier 71 startup programme
• 30:52 The gap between research and commercialisation
• 35:14 The EU AI Act and transparency requirements
• 45:08 AI disclosure, watermarking and content quality
• 51:59 Human oversight and the future of knowledge work

The episode begins with extreme heat and an unlikely supply-chain indicator: Nick talks about its direct maritime consequences, with exceptionally low water levels at Kaub restricting cargo capacity on the Rhine and drought reducing permissible draughts through the Panama Canal.

The conversation then moves from climate impacts to potential solutions. Raal introduces Drift Energy’s concept for sailing vessels that generate electricity at sea and convert it onboard into green hydrogen.

The discussion broadens into tidal power, onboard carbon processing and the wider ocean economy, asking whether ships can become energy-producing assets rather than simply consumers of cleaner fuels.

Attention then turns to Singapore’s Pier 71 programme and what its alumni suggest about the value of sustained, government-backed maritime innovation.

Nick and Raal contrast that model with the persistent difficulty of moving promising technologies from research funding into viable commercial businesses, particularly in the UK and Europe.

The episode closes with the EU’s developing approach to AI transparency. They examine watermarking, disclosure obligations, human oversight and the implications for companies using generative AI professionally. The central question is less whether AI was involved than whether the finished work is accurate, useful and properly scrutinised.

EPISODE PARTNER

This episode is sponsored by Insight, in partnership with SmartSea.

Getting new technology onto one ship is an achievement. Getting every ship the same benefit is where most digital transformation programs lose momentum.

On the Aroya refit, Insight delivered the largest cruise IT transformation in EMEA — on schedule, in 11 months, across 33-plus workstreams — built on a single connected architecture designed to be repeated on the next vessel, not rebuilt from scratch.

That's the model Insight and SmartSea bring to fleet-wide rollouts: pilot once, deploy consistently, and cut the time and cost of getting every vessel to the same standard.

Because transformation only counts once it reaches the whole fleet.

Start your digital transformation journey with Insight.

Nick and Raal examine what good maritime digital transformation looks like, from Bridgetown Port’s low-cost community system to shared vessel inspections and procurement pooling. They then explore AI’s tendency to flatten decisions, the value of proprietary data and primary research, and why real-world observation still matters in an automated industry.

CHAPTERS

• 03:38 Bridgetown Port’s $500k digital transformation
• 07:52 From 52 paper documents to a port community system
• 10:05 RightShip, NorthStandard and inspecting once
• 13:33 Can vessel inspections become a shared data standard?
• 18:59 The case for asking for maritime data only once
• 23:13 Oceanic Alliance and procurement pooling
• 27:18 What happens when AI starts making the decisions?
• 29:28 AI forecasting, broking and market feedback loops
• 37:31 Finding an edge when everyone has the same data
• 42:36 Marketing claims versus primary research
• 44:26 Where to look for maritime technology’s real frontier
• 47:29 Why asking customers to pay changes the feedback
• 52:01 Shadow AI and the EU AI Act
• 59:19 Why a subsea cable was rerouted for Dobby

The episode opens with a new candidate for Undocked’s “Under the Radar” series: Bridgetown Port in Barbados, which has built its own cloud-based port community system. The numbers make the case unusually tangible: a reported $500,000 investment, 52 physical documents reduced to none.

From there, Nick and Raal move onto a collaboration between RightShip and NorthStandard raises a deceptively simple proposition: inspect once, then make better use of trusted evidence.

The same logic appears in another form through Oceanic Alliance’s procurement pooling model. By aggregating purchasing demand across hundreds of vessels, smaller owners can potentially access some of the economies of scale traditionally associated with large third-party managers while retaining control of ship management.

The conversation then turns to AI and a more uncomfortable problem: what happens when everyone feeds similar data into similar models? In broking, product design, hiring, marketing and investment research, AI can improve analysis while simultaneously pushing participants towards the same conclusions. Once those conclusions begin influencing the underlying market, better forecasting can create new feedback loops and potentially new blind spots.

Finally there is the less predictable operational challenge of subsea infrastructure: a $600 million cable route reportedly altered to avoid the fictional grave of Dobby the House Elf.

EPISODE PARTNER

This episode is supported by Insight and SmartSea, powered by SITA.

AI is reshaping maritime — but a model is only as good as the data and systems behind it. Too many AI initiatives stall because fleet data is fragmented and disconnected from day-to-day operations.

Insight and SmartSea, powered by SITA, connect data, applications and onboard operations through one fleet architecture — so operators can identify opportunities, prove value, and scale what works, rather than running another isolated pilot.

The outcome isn't "we tried AI." It's AI embedded in daily operations, driving measurable efficiency, resilience and business results.

Turn AI ambition into measurable outcomes with Insight and SmartSea.

Steven Jones joins Nick Chubb and Raal Harris to examine what the latest Seafarers Happiness Index reveals about life at sea, crew relationships, shore-based wellbeing.

Chapters

• 02:16 The origins of the Seafarers Happiness Index
• 04:45 A decade of changing seafarer sentiment
• 08:16 What the latest results reveal
• 09:19 Technology overload and operational futility
• 11:34 Control, agency, and wellbeing at sea
• 14:08 Why younger seafarers have more choices
• 16:30 The erosion of shore leave
• 18:45 Making technology work with seafarers
• 22:12 Balancing traditional and digital skills
• 24:58 Understanding the futility trap
• 26:39 Wellbeing among shore-based teams
• 28:43 Compliance theatre and disconnected policies
• 31:47 Putting seafarers inside decarbonisation decisions
• 34:05 Training, competence, and personal investment
• 39:48 Trip length and emotional adjustment
• 41:46 Why crew relationships still matter
• 45:14 Food quality, weather, and life onboard
• 48:50 Why captains report lower happiness
• 50:16 Measuring welfare across the industry
• 54:01 The Seafarers Pledge

The episode opens with Steven Jones explaining how the Seafarers Happiness Index grew from a simple attempt to hear directly from crews into one of the industry’s most closely watched measures of life at sea. More than a decade of responses now provides a view across connectivity, shore leave, wages, food, workload, welfare, health and relationships onboard.

The latest results point to something deeper than routine quarterly movement. Steven describes a growing sense of futility as seafarers face geopolitical instability, expanding compliance demands and technology that is frequently added without removing existing work. The discussion examines the operational gap between systems sold ashore and the reality of implementing them onboard.

Nick, Raal and Steven also consider the loss of agency at sea, the decline of meaningful shore leave and the changing expectations of younger seafarers with credible career alternatives ashore.

The conversation closes on the areas where progress remains possible. Strong relationships between shipmates continue to underpin wellbeing, while better food, protected downtime and genuine consultation can make an immediate difference.

BE PART OF THE SURVEY

Contribute to the Seafarers Happiness Index

Take part in the Shore-Based Happiness Index

EPISODE PARTNER

This episode is sponsored by GTT Marine.

By 2027, EU ETS will cover 100% of reported emissions.

FuelEU Maritime will be in full force. And CII corrective action plans will be a regular part of the conversation. The operators best positioned for that moment aren't necessarily the ones buying new systems right now.

They're the ones using 2026 to connect what they already have. The Great Integration, the new report from GTT Marine and Thetius, is a practical blueprint for getting decision-ready before the deadlines stack up.

Download it now.

Mintra’s integration with Norway’s competence registry opens a wider discussion about digital training records, trust and interoperability in maritime. Nick and Raal revisit failed technology forecasts, consider AI’s long-term impact on work, and examine how Huawei’s HarmonyOS could create a third mobile ecosystem for maritime software providers worldwide and ashore.

CHAPTERS

• 00:36 Mintra connects 2.8 million training records
• 04:09 National competence registries and maritime careers
• 07:15 Who controls seafarer training data?
• 12:32 Creating an international trust layer
• 15:43 The career risk of lost paper certificates
• 18:24 Discharge books and multi-flag complexity
• 20:50 Mintra, Safebridge and digital credentials
• 21:56 Maritime technology predictions that failed
• 27:10 Weak signals and the next decade of shipping
• 31:21 AI, productivity and changing maritime jobs
• 37:44 Why maritime adopted native mobile apps
• 40:40 Huawei, HarmonyOS and a third ecosystem
• 45:58 Export controls and unintended consequences
• 50:00 Domestic systems meet international shipping

The episode begins with Mintra’s decision to connect 2.8 million training records to Norway’s national competence registry. The initiative raises a broader question for shipping: whether digital records can move securely between employers, industries and jurisdictions without replacing fragmented paper bureaucracy with equally fragmented digital systems.

Nick and Raal examine the distinction between certified qualifications and the wider training data held inside company learning systems. They discuss ownership, consent and the practical value of allowing records to follow an employee throughout a career. In a global industry without a single governing authority, the more difficult challenge is establishing trust between flags, training providers, employers and technology platforms.

The discussion then turns to maritime technology forecasting, before closing with Huawei’s HarmonyOS. Maritime software has largely been designed around two mobile ecosystems, Android and iOS. A credible third platform—particularly one supported by China’s large seafaring, shipbuilding and industrial base—could create substantial development and security choices for vendors relying on native apps and seafarers’ personal devices.

EPISODE PARTNER

This episode of UnDocked is brought to you by KVH.

Connectivity is critical, but it’s what sits behind it that makes the difference.

KVH goes beyond bandwidth, offering managed IT services, cybersecurity, and compliance support designed specifically for maritime operations. Combined with LEO connectivity and intelligent network management, this creates a complete communications ecosystem for your fleet.

Secure, scalable, and built to adapt as your needs evolve.

So whether you're upgrading your network or rethinking your entire communications strategy, KVH provides the foundation to do it right.

Discover more at kvh.com