maritime-ai
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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.
Bearing AI
Bearing AI is a Palo Alto-based maritime technology company that builds AI models to predict and optimize how ships perform at sea. By combining real-world vessel sensor data, satellite positioning and weather with deep learning, its platform forecasts fuel consumption, emissions, fleet deployment and market conditions - helping shipping companies cut carbon output, comply with tightening emissions rules like CII, and make better operational decisions. Founded in 2019 by Dylan Keil and David Liu and backed by Andrew Ng's AI Fund and Mitsui & Co., Bearing counts leading carriers such as 'K' Line, Hapag-Lloyd and IINO Lines among its users.
Spear AI
Spear AI is a Washington, D.C. defense-technology company founded by U.S. Navy veterans that turns raw underwater acoustic data into decision advantage for maritime and undersea operations. It pairs affordable, deployable maritime sensors with AI/ML software - anchored by its Horizon platform for managing and labeling acoustic data - so naval leaders can tell a benign whale from a silent-running submarine faster and with more confidence. The company also provides engineering and technical services to the U.S. Department of Defense and Navy.
Bifrost AI
Bifrost AI builds simulation and evaluation infrastructure for physical AI. Its platform generates photorealistic 3D synthetic data and stress-tests robotics and computer-vision systems across thousands of simulated scenarios - weather, sensor noise, rare edge cases - so teams can train and validate models in minutes instead of months. Used across maritime, geospatial, aerial, off-road, industrial, and off-world domains, with collaborators including NASA JPL and the U.S. Air Force. Founded in 2020 and backed by an $8M Series A led by Carbide Ventures with participation from Airbus Ventures and Peak XV's Surge.
Dylan Keil
Dylan Keil is the co-founder and CEO of Bearing AI, a Palo Alto startup that uses artificial intelligence to cut carbon emissions and improve operations across the global maritime shipping fleet. A Stanford-trained mechanical engineer who grew up on college campuses, he built and sold the mobile sensor startup Chronos to Life360 before launching Bearing in 2019. Backed by Andrew Ng's AI Fund and Japanese shipping giant Mitsui & Co., Bearing predicts vessel fuel consumption, speed and carbon ratings without onboard sensors, helping shipowners navigate regulations like CII, EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime while saving fuel and money.
Michael Hunter
Michael Hunter is the co-founder and CEO of Spear AI, a Washington, D.C. defense technology company turning the ocean's underwater noise into usable intelligence. A former Navy intelligence analyst who deployed to Baghdad with SEAL Team Two and later led AI projects inside the Pentagon's Project Maven, Hunter started Spear AI in 2021 with retired submarine commander John McGunnigle. The company builds software, modular sensors, and engineering services that help the U.S. Navy and commercial partners label and make sense of maritime acoustic data at the edge.
Burmester & Vogel
Burmester & Vogel is a Boston-based maritime technology company that uses AI and machine learning to automate laytime calculation and demurrage claim management for the shipping industry. Founded in Hamburg in 1983 as a traditional laytime firm, it has reinvented itself as the maker of the Demurrage AI Copilot - software that digitizes shipping documents, calculates delay time, and audits demurrage claims in seconds. It serves industrial producers, commodity traders, bulk terminals and shipowners across several hundred companies worldwide.