The Last Dinosaur - Maritime Shipping In the Digital Age

Episode 143:  Jon Gahagan, Sentinel Asset Protection | Rethinking Maritime Access Control
What if one of shipping's next opportunities for digitalization is hiding in plain sight?
Jon Gahagan, founder of Sentinel Asset Protection and winner of The Captain's Table Posidonia competition, joins Chris to discuss how a simple question about remotely monitoring a ship's gangway evolved into a much broader conversation about crew workload, security, digital access control and maritime domain awareness.
They also get into the realities of building hardware for ships, proving ROI, overcoming resistance to change, raising capital and learning from other industries.
In this episode:
01:25 Jon's journey from the Royal Navy to maritime security and Sentinel
04:29 The problem with the traditional gangway watch
09:22 Building a maritime solution from technology outside shipping
10:58 Implementation, change management and lessons from the crew
18:09 Crew welfare, efficiency and digitizing the visitor log
22:33 Measuring ROI and potential crew-hour savings
25:48 Winning The Captain's Table at Posidonia and the funding challenge
30:00 From a gangway solution to maritime access control
35:46 What Jon is reading
Stay salty. Stay curious.
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Music by: Peg and The Rejected "King of SKA"
Art Work By: GA Design
Produced by: Chris Aversano
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Todays Sponsor:
Digital Ship Summit | Athens | October 15
A quick shout-out to Digital Ship. Shipping is facing more digital complexity than ever, from AI and cyber risk to connectivity and the growing importance of data.
The question is no longer whether to invest in digital technology, but how to do it effectively.
Digital Ship Summit brings together industry leaders and practitioners in Athens on October 15 for a day of discussion, debate and practical insight.
Learn more and secure your delegate pass at thedigitalship.com/summit.

Matthew Costello, Voyager Portal: Pivoting, AI and Building Maritime Tech That Actually Works
What happens when the original idea isn't the one that ultimately builds the business?
Matthew Costello, Founder and CEO of Voyager Portal, joins The Last Dinosaur to talk candidly about building a maritime technology company, the pivots that shaped Voyager, and why listening to customers sometimes means admitting you got it wrong.
Matthew and Chris discuss Voyager's move deeper into demurrage, rebuilding a product when the first approach didn't work, the growing role of AI, and why he believes this may be one of the best times yet to build a maritime technology company.
In this episode:
02:21 Matthew's path from Stolt Tankers to founding Voyager
06:09 Finding the original opportunity in maritime technology
12:46 Why Voyager pivoted deeper into demurrage
17:31 The customer feedback that led to a product rebuild
20:48 Balancing customer requests with innovation
26:47 AI, data architecture and rising customer expectations
32:25 The changing maritime investment landscape
35:35 Why the next wave of maritime startups may look very different
36:22 What Matthew is reading
This episode of The Last Dinosaur is sponsored by Digital Ship.
Digital Ship Summit Athens takes place on 15 October, bringing together maritime technology leaders, shipowners, operators and innovators for practical conversations around AI, cybersecurity, connectivity and digital transformation.
Stay salty. Stay curious.
Chris 
Learn More:
Tune in Now: Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more! Watch the episode on YouTube.
Music by: Peg and The Rejected "King of SKA"
Art Work By: GA Design
Produced by: Chris Aversano
Support Our Podcast:
💬 Like what you hear? Please rate the show 5 stars, follow, and share with your network.
☕ Support the show: Buy Me a Coffee — your support helps keep us going strong.

What does innovation look like from inside a traditional shipping company?
This week, we're heading back into the Vault for my conversation with Kenji Togasaki, Senior Vice President at IINO Lines.
Kenji brings a unique perspective. He spent years in chemical tanker chartering and corporate planning before moving into innovation. Today, IINO Lines is not only adopting new technology, but investing in the maritime innovation ecosystem through venture funds including TMV, The Dock and Motion Ventures.
We talk about why IINO took that approach, the challenge of bringing new technology into an established shipping company, and where Kenji sees some of the biggest opportunities ahead.
In this episode:
02:19 Kenji's journey from chemical tanker chartering to innovation 06:33 Why IINO began focusing on maritime technology 08:27 Investing in the maritime startup ecosystem 10:22 Decarbonization, autonomous shipping and digitalization 18:32 Getting a traditional organization to embrace new technology 24:01 Why collaboration matters in maritime innovation 27:24 Why shipping needs more hardware startups 30:21 Learning from innovation across the shipping industry 32:35 What Kenji is reading and watching
Originally released July 2025.
From the Vault revisits conversations from The Last Dinosaur archive that still have something important to say about where maritime is heading.
Stay salty. Stay curious.
Learn More:
Tune in Now: Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more! Watch the episode on YouTube.
Music by: Peg and The Rejected "King of SKA"
Art Work By: GA Design
Produced by: Chris Aversano
Support Our Podcast:
💬 Like what you hear? Please rate the show 5 stars, follow, and share with your network.
☕ Support the show: Buy Me a Coffee — your support helps keep us going strong.

FROM THE VAULT #2: OSHER PERRY ON MARITIME AI, SHIP SAFETY & DIGITAL SHIPPING
How are AI and visual analytics changing ship safety and maritime operations?
Originally released in January 2023, this conversation with Osher Perry, founder and CEO of ShipIn Systems, explored maritime AI before it became quite the industry buzzword it is today.
We talk about using AI and visual analytics to give seafarers better tools, improve shipboard safety, connect ship and shore, and make vessel operations more efficient. We also get into crew acceptance of new technology, maritime tech investment, and why AI only matters if it solves a real operational problem.
Fast forward to 2026, and ShipIn has just raised $52 million to expand its AI platform. That makes this a pretty good time to pull this conversation from the vault.
Tune In Now: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
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Stay salty. Stay curious.

Bill Dobie – SEDNA
The Last Dinosaur Vault | Archive #1
Originally Released: May 2023
Welcome to the first edition of The Last Dinosaur Vault, a special summer series revisiting conversations that have stood the test of time.
Originally recorded in May 2023, this conversation with Bill Dobie, Founder and CEO of SEDNA, explored one of shipping's biggest challenges: getting the right information to the right people at the right time.
Long before AI dominated industry conversations, Bill shared his perspective on communication, collaboration, and building digital workflows that enable better operational decisions. Listening back today, it's remarkable how relevant these ideas remain.
In this episode
Why communication is at the heart of digital transformation
Building better workflows across maritime organizations
Collaboration, information flow, and operational efficiency
Why good technology starts with solving real business problems
Tune In Now
Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and wherever you get your podcasts.
Music
Peg and The Rejected – King of SKA
Artwork
GA Design
Produced by
Chris Aversano
Support The Last Dinosaur
If you've enjoyed this episode, please follow the podcast, leave a rating or review, and share it with a colleague. Your support helps more people discover these conversations.
Interested in sponsoring The Last Dinosaur? Reach out to our friends at Digital Ship to learn more about advertising opportunities.
Stay salty. Stay curious.
Chris