Episode 118: Driving Strategy and Scaling Maritime Tech with Aleksander Askeland of Manta Marine Technologies
The Last Dinosaur - Maritime Shipping In The Digital Age
Release Date: 09/16/2025
Episode 135: Beyond Compliance – The Reality of Seafarer Wellbeing with Meei Wong
The Last Dinosaur - Maritime Shipping In The Digital Age
Episode Overview: A conversation that challenges how the industry defines “wellbeing.” Founder and CEO of , breaks down why compliance-driven metrics miss the real picture onboard—and why trust, culture, and incentives are the real barriers to improving life at sea. Timestamps: 00:05 – Introduction and Meei’s journey into seafarer welfare 02:23 – A broken system: industry value vs reliance on charities 05:20 – What wellbeing actually looks like onboard vs compliance metrics 10:36 – Why self-reported data misses the reality 13:08 – Health gaps, underreporting, and life...
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Episode 134: Why Maritime Still Isn’t Connected – And What It Will Take to Fix It
The Last Dinosaur - Maritime Shipping In The Digital Age
Guest: , Principal Engineer at Chair, Episode Overview: Maritime has no shortage of digital tools. What it lacks is connection. In this episode, speaks with Tim Morris about why shipping still operates in silos while other transport sectors have evolved into fully connected systems. They explore what intelligent transport systems (ITS) really mean in a maritime context, where the industry is falling short, and how better coordination across ports, vessels, and landside logistics could unlock efficiency, resilience, and sustainability. Key Moments 00:05 – Introduction Chris sets the...
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Episode 133: The Human Side of Shipping: Seafarer Welfare in a Connected World
The Last Dinosaur - Maritime Shipping In The Digital Age
Episode 133: The Human Side of Shipping: Seafarer Welfare in a Connected World Episode Overview Recorded live at , this roundtable pulls back the curtain on seafarers’ welfare in modern shipping. Chris sits down with , , and to explore how digital transformation is reshaping life for crews when ships come into port. From Starlink and onboard connectivity to WhatsApp communication, e-commerce logistics, and social media visibility, this conversation highlights how seafarer welfare has evolved into a critical part of the maritime ecosystem. It also brings into focus a more immediate reality....
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Episode 132: How Cargill Thinks About Decarbonization, Risk, and the Future of Shipping with Jan Dieleman
The Last Dinosaur - Maritime Shipping In The Digital Age
Episode 132: How Cargill Thinks About Decarbonization, Risk, and the Future of Shipping with Jan Dieleman Guest: Jan Dieleman President, Ocean Transportation — Cargill Chair, Global Maritime Forum Episode Overview In this episode of The Last Dinosaur, Chris Aversano speaks with , President of Ocean Transportation at and Chair of the . Cargill charters hundreds of vessels across global trades at any given time, moving grains, energy products, and raw materials around the world. From that vantage point, Jan offers a unique charterer perspective on how shipping decisions are made. Hint: it is...
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Episode 131: Driving Change in Maritime, and Why Port Calls Still Feel Like Orchestrated Chaos
The Last Dinosaur - Maritime Shipping In The Digital Age
Episode 131: Driving Change in Maritime, and Why Port Calls Still Feel Like Orchestrated Chaos Guest: , CEO and Co-Founder, Also: Host of the vodcast Special Note: This is a co-produced episode and will be released on both The Last Dinosaur and Teqplay’s vodcast Driving Change in Maritime with Teqplay Episode Overview: This one is a true back and forth. Léon and Chris co-host a joint episode that moves from the reality of port call complexity to why “visibility” is still surprisingly hard, and how digital twins can make maritime data usable in the moments that matter. They also dig...
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Episode 130: Risk Is Changing, Lets Talk P&I Clubs, Digitalization, and the New Reality of Maritime Insurance
The Last Dinosaur - Maritime Shipping In The Digital Age
Guest: CEO, Episode Overview Shipping has always been about risk. But the nature of that risk is shifting. In this episode, I sit down with Thomas Nordberg, CEO of The Swedish Club, to explore how maritime risk has evolved from vessel-centric, event-driven incidents to complex systemic exposures shaped by geopolitics, regulation, cyber threats, and digital transformation. This is not a conversation about premiums and policies. It is a practical look at how insurers are adapting, how shipowners should be thinking differently, and why the P&I club model may be more relevant today than...
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Episode 129: Decarbonization That Actually Works; Founder Lessons with Gordana Ilic, PhD of BetterSea
The Last Dinosaur - Maritime Shipping In The Digital Age
Guest: — Co-Founder & Co-CEO, and host of Episode Overview: Gordana Ilic didn’t come up through shipping. Gordana’s path was through sustainability, entrepreneurship, corporate innovation, then into Maersk’s decarbonization work before returning to entrepreneurship. In this episode, we go beyond regulation talk and into what’s really happening in the market: how FuelEU is being received, why smaller owners moved faster than some of the giants, what pooling is changing culturally and commercially, and what founders learn the hard way about building in an industry that’s...
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Episode 128: Bridge to Boardroom: Class Society Reality, Tech Adoption, and the Ship–Shore Gap
The Last Dinosaur - Maritime Shipping In The Digital Age
Guest: , Global Market Leader, Commercial at Episode Overview: Capt. Ankur Arora has lived shipping from all sides. Years at sea, senior roles with shipowners, and now inside a leading class society. In this episode, he breaks down what changes when innovation stops being a slide deck and starts living onboard: design choices that affect daily work, the role of modeling and verification, how connectivity reshapes crew life, and why talent pipelines depend on telling the real story of seafaring. Key Points: Why he chose sea life (and what he learned fast): Early responsibility, rapid...
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Episode 127 — Starting 2026 with the Right Mindset with Akanksha Batura Pai PD
The Last Dinosaur - Maritime Shipping In The Digital Age
Guest: , PD Executive Director, Shipping Agency Pte Ltd | IMO Goodwill Maritime Ambassador (Emerita) | #1 Top 100 Women in Shipping Episode Overview: We kick off 2026 with a grounded, practical conversation with Akanksha Batura Pai PD, one of my favorite interviews to date. We talk about what digital transformation actually looks like inside a ship agency, why incremental change beats big-bang initiatives, how mindset drives successful adoption, and why clean data still matters more than AI hype. This episode is part of our ongoing partnership with and for the second year in a...
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Episode 126: Maritime Digitalization Year in Review 2025 with Evan Efstathiou
The Last Dinosaur - Maritime Shipping In The Digital Age
Guest: , CEO of l and Founder of Episode Overview: For the fourth year in a row, Evan joins The Last Dinosaur to unpack the big storylines in maritime tech. From AI hype vs. reality and sector consolidation, to decarbonization, hardware innovation, and the next wave of corporate venture investing, this episode is your annual “state of the union” for digital shipping. Chris and Evan revisit last year’s predictions, look at what played out in 2025, and lay out what to watch closely in 2026. Key Points: AI Moves From Hype to “Show Me the Money”: AI has shifted from novelty add-on to...
info_outlineEpisode 118: Driving Strategy and Scaling Maritime Tech with Aleksander Askeland of Manta Marine Technologies
Guest: Aleksander Askeland, Chief Financial Officer, Manta Marine Technologies
Episode Overview:
Aleksander Askeland’s career journey has taken him from the Arctic coal trade to leading strategy and finance at Manta Marine Technologies, one of the most forward-looking players in maritime decarbonization.
In this conversation, we dive into the CFO’s role as a strategic driver, the realities of scaling tech in shipping, and why digitalization and emissions compliance must go hand in hand.
Key Points:
- From Svalbard to Shipping: How a coal export operation in the Arctic introduced Aleksander to shipping’s complexity and sparked his passion.
- The Yara Years: Why Yara’s pivot from scrubbers to a broader tech portfolio laid the groundwork for Manta’s evolution.
- CFO as Strategist: Moving beyond balance sheets and towards how finance leadership shapes market positioning, acquisitions, and tech bets.
- Change Management at Sea: Why crew adoption is central to decarbonization technologies and how to avoid disrupting daily workflows.
- Acquisition by Okapi Supply Trading SA: How independence from Yara is making Manta more agile in responding to market and regulatory pressures.
- Scaling Beyond Pilots: Overcoming the challenge of moving shipowners from 1–2 trial vessels to fleet-wide adoption.
- Investor Attention: Where maritime tech is in the “football match” of investment and why maritime-focused VCs are changing the game.
Learn More: Listen to my conversation with Scott Bergeron, Head of Fleet Management at Oldendorff Carriers, on scaling maritime operations [Episode 82].
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
Head cook and bottle washer: Chris Aversano
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