# Michael G. Johnson

> Michael G. Johnson is the founder, president and CTO of Sea Machines Robotics, a Boston company building autonomous control and perception systems for commercial ships and workboats. A Texas A&M marine engineer who spent two decades in offshore oil, heavy-lift ocean transport and salvage at Crowley and TITAN Salvage, Johnson started Sea Machines in 2015 after seeing how avoidable human error was on an Arctic oil-spill response job. In November 2024 he handed the CEO seat to David 'Chip' Wasson and moved into a technology and product role focused on defense and international expansion.

- **Role:** President & CTO at Sea Machines Robotics
- **Organizations:** Sea Machines Robotics, Crowley Maritime (former), TITAN Salvage (former)
- **From:** Texas, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S., Marine Engineering, Texas A&M University
- **Known for:** Founded and scaled Sea Machines to 58 employees across four countries, Raised roughly $44M in total funding, Named Marine Technology Reporter's #3 Ocean Influencer

## Career timeline

- **1990s** — Marine engineering degree from Texas A&M University
- **1990s-2014** — Two decades in offshore oil and gas, marine transportation, heavy-lift and salvage - working in Singapore, the Arctic, Europe, and Australia
- **pre-2015** — Vice President at Crowley Maritime and its affiliate TITAN Salvage
- **2015** — Founded Sea Machines Robotics in a shared Cambridge office
- **2017** — Closed $1.5M seed round led by Launch Capital, with Accomplice, LDV Capital, Geekdom Fund and Techstars
- **2018** — Closed $10M Series A led by Accomplice; opened Hamburg office; announced Maersk perception-technology trial
- **2020** — Closed $15M round including Huntington Ingalls; SM200 gained USCG and ABS approval
- **2021** — The Machine Odyssey - 1,000+ nautical miles of autonomous navigation over 13 days, commanded from Boston
- **2022** — Bureau Veritas Type Approval for wireless vessel control technology
- **2024** — Series A extension of $12M closed February; David 'Chip' Wasson joined as CEO in November; Johnson moved to President & CTO to lead technology and defense strategy

## Achievements

- Founded and scaled Sea Machines to 58 employees across four countries
- Raised roughly $44M in total funding
- Named Marine Technology Reporter's #3 Ocean Influencer
- Featured HubWeek Change Maker (2019)
- Delivered the first commercial autonomous perception system trialed on an A.P. Moller-Maersk container ship
- Led SM200 to USCG and ABS approval and BV Type Approval

## Latest updates

- **2024-11** — David 'Chip' Wasson named CEO; Michael Johnson transitions to President and CTO to lead technology and defense expansion.
- **2024-02** — Sea Machines closed a $12M funding round.

## Links

- Website: https://sea-machines.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/micgjohnson/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/SeaMachines
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SeaMachinesRobotics
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seamachinesrobotics/
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/seamachinesrobotics/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/michael-johnson
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-09