Innovation to Impact is a podcast by Safetytech Accelerator exploring how emerging technologies are transforming safety, sustainability, and society.
Each episode features conversations with industry leaders, innovators, and policymakers working at the forefront of change — from AI and digital transformation to environmental protection and risk management.
We go beyond the hype to unpack the real challenges organisations face, the solutions being tested today, and what it takes to turn innovation into meaningful, real-world impact.
Whether you’re working in industry, policy, or technology, this podcast gives you the insights shaping the future of safer, more sustainable systems.
Why Maritime Innovation Fails to Scale | Venture Acceleration Alliance
What separates organisations that talk about innovation from those actually making it happen?
In this special edition of Innovation to Impact, we explore the Venture Acceleration Alliance Startup Collaboration Benchmark and what its findings tell us about the relationship between startups, corporates and ports across the maritime industry.
Joining us are Oscar van Veen, Director of Innovation and Digital Port Performance at the Port of Rotterdam, and Mare Straetmans, entrepreneur, investor and startup ecosystem builder.
Together, we discuss why collaboration with startups matters, what successful organisations are doing differently and why getting from a promising pilot to real-world implementation remains one of the industry's biggest challenges.
In this episode, we explore:
⚓ Why maritime needs a benchmark for startup collaboration 🚀 What separates looking innovative from actually delivering innovation 📈 Why successful pilots still struggle to reach scale ⏱️ Why speed and access to decision-makers are crucial for startups 🏗️ The role ports can play in creating stronger innovation ecosystems 🤝 Why collaboration across organisations matters more than working in isolation 💡 What makes a startup attractive to major maritime organisations 📊 How the Venture Acceleration Alliance benchmark is evolving 🔄 Why sharing failed pilots could help the entire industry innovate faster
One of the biggest questions emerging from the conversation is whether maritime's innovation challenge is changing.
Finding startups is becoming easier.
The harder question is: can the industry actually adopt and scale what they create?
Oscar and Mare also tackle our traditional final question:
If you could ban one piece of technology forever, what would it be — and why?
Watch the full conversation to hear what the latest Venture Acceleration Alliance findings could mean for the future of maritime innovation.
Learn more about the Venture Acceleration Alliance and its benchmark: www.ventureaccelerationalliance.com (http://www.ventureaccelerationalliance.com)
Subscribe for more conversations exploring how new technologies move from innovation into impact across maritime and other safety-critical industries.
#InnovationToImpact #MaritimeInnovation #VentureAccelerationAlliance #Startups #OpenInnovation #PortOfRotterdam #Innovation #Maritime #StartupCollaboration #SafetytechAccelerator
11 Sept 2026
SMM Conversations 2026 | Voices from Across the Maritime Industry | Innovation to Impact
What does innovation in maritime look like right now — and where is the industry heading next?
In this special episode of Innovation to Impact, we take the podcast to SMM 2026 in Hamburg, speaking with voices from across the maritime industry directly from the Lloyd’s Register stand.
Across a series of short conversations, we explore the technologies, challenges and opportunities shaping the future of shipping — from safety and digitalisation to decarbonisation, new technology and the realities of turning innovation into meaningful industry impact.
Rather than one traditional interview, this episode brings together perspectives from across SMM to give a snapshot of where the industry is today, what people are working on, and what needs to happen next.
A huge thank you to everyone who took the time to join the conversation, and to Lloyd’s Register for letting us take over the stand with the microphone.
In this episode: • Perspectives from across the maritime sector • Emerging technologies and innovation • The challenges facing shipping today • Turning new ideas into real-world impact • What the industry needs to focus on next
🎙️ Innovation to Impact is a Safetytech Accelerator podcast exploring how technology, collaboration and innovation can tackle some of the biggest challenges facing safety-critical industries.
Subscribe for more Innovation to Impact episodes and conversations from across the industry.
#SMM2026 #Maritime #Shipping #MaritimeInnovation #LloydsRegister #SafetytechAccelerator #InnovationToImpact #MaritimeTechnology #ShippingIndustry
30 Jul 2026
Why Cargo Fires at Sea Are So Hard to Stop | Innovation to Impact
Cargo fires are one of the most complex safety challenges facing the maritime industry—but why are they so difficult to detect, contain and prevent?
In this episode of Innovation to Impact, Safetytech Accelerator brings together experts from Evergreen, the UK P&I Club and the Cargo Fire & Loss Innovation Initiative to explore the operational reality of fighting fires at sea.
Unlike incidents on land, vessels have limited equipment, limited personnel and no additional emergency services to call when something goes wrong. Crews must identify the location and nature of a fire while working with incomplete cargo information and detection systems that may only provide a general warning. The conversation explores:
• Why larger container vessels have increased the scale and complexity of the risk • How lithium-ion batteries and misdeclared cargo create new challenges • Where existing fire-detection systems fall short • What makes a new technology suitable for use at sea • Why real-world testing aboard vessels is essential • How operators, insurers, regulators and technology companies can work together • Why protecting seafarers must remain the industry’s central priority
Cargo fires cannot be solved by one organisation or one piece of technology. The industry needs shared knowledge, practical testing and collaboration—even between competitors—to develop solutions that are reliable, scalable and commercially viable.
As the guests explain, vessels and cargo can be replaced. The lives of crew members cannot.
Learn more about the Cargo Fire & Loss Innovation Initiative: CFLII | Safetytech Accelerator (https://www.safetytechaccelerator.org/cflii-innovationinitiative)
7 Jul 2026
Lloyd’s Register on Maritime Innovation, Collaboration & the Future of Shipping
In this special episode of Innovation to Impact, Safetytech Accelerator goes behind the scenes at Posidonia, one of the world’s most important maritime events.
Across the week, we spoke with people from across Lloyd’s Register about why Posidonia matters, the role of Safetytech Accelerator, and how innovation can help the maritime industry respond to some of its biggest challenges.
From safety and sustainability to collaboration, emerging technology and real-world adoption, these short conversations explore how industry leaders are working together to move ideas from discussion into impact.
Recorded live at Posidonia, this episode captures the energy of the event and the importance of bringing the right people together to shape the future of shipping.
Subscribe for more conversations from Innovation to Impact by Safetytech Accelerator.
5 Jun 2026
Road Diaries: Posidonia 2026 with Marius Suteu | Maritime Innovation & Collaboration
In this episode of Safetytech Accelerator Road Diaries, we’re in Athens during Posidonia 2026 with Marius Suteu, Managing Director of Safetytech Accelerator.
Halfway through a packed week of meetings, events and conversations, Marius reflects on what Posidonia reveals about the future of maritime innovation — from emerging technologies and future energy solutions to the importance of collaboration across shipowners, operators, regulators, technology providers and the wider maritime ecosystem.
The conversation explores why solving major industry challenges is rarely about one single solution. Instead, progress often depends on connecting people, aligning stakeholders and proving that new technologies can deliver both practical impact and a clear return on investment.
Marius also discusses Safetytech Accelerator’s role in bringing the industry together through initiatives such as MAMII and the Cargo Fire & Loss Innovation Initiative, and reflects on the value of events like Posidonia in building trust, creating partnerships and accelerating real-world innovation.
Recorded live from Athens during Posidonia 2026.
26 May 2026
Distractive vs. Disruptive: What It Actually Takes to Transform Maritime Innovation | Innovation to Impact episode #3
In this episode of Innovation to Impact, we sit down with Shakib, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at Lloyd's Register and Chairman of the Safetytech Accelerator Board, for a conversation that cuts through the noise around maritime innovation.
We explore why so much technology looks promising on paper but fails to deliver at scale — and why data silos, not a lack of digital ambition, are the real bottleneck. Shakib breaks down the difference between technology that is genuinely disruptive and technology that is merely distractive, and what that distinction means for startups, operators, and class societies trying to navigate a fast-changing industry.
We also get into the generational shift underway in maritime, what classification societies actually do for technology adoption (and where they can get in the way), why autonomous vessels are further off than conference talk suggests, and why Safetytech Accelerator exists to fill a gap that even Lloyd's Register can't fill alone.
If you're working at the intersection of safety, innovation, and maritime operations, this one is worth your time.
13 May 2026
Innovation To Impact Episode #2: The voices of Singapore Maritime week
Recorded live at Singapore Maritime Week, this special episode of Innovation to Impact brings together voices from across the maritime ecosystem to explore one central question: what does it really take to move innovation from conversation to real-world adoption?
Across a series of short reflections, industry leaders share their perspectives on the future of maritime, the importance of collaboration, and the challenges shaping safety, decarbonisation, digitalisation and technology adoption.
For Safetytech Accelerator, Singapore Maritime Week was a chance to listen, connect and explore how the industry can work together to close the gap between promising ideas and meaningful impact.
Because innovation is everywhere. Real impact is not.
In this episode, we explore: – What maritime innovation looks like on the ground – Why adoption is often harder than invention – The role of trust, evidence and collaboration – How the maritime sector can turn shared challenges into scalable solutions
Listen to more episodes of Innovation to Impact and follow Safetytech Accelerator for future conversations on safety, technology and industry transformation.
8 May 2026
Road Diaries Episode: Cargo Fire Programme Update from Athens | Innovation to Impact
In this Road Diaries episode, we sit down with Kassie during the Cargo Fire & Loss Innovation Initiative anchor partner meeting in Athens to reflect on where the programme is now, what we heard from partners, and what comes next.
Cargo fires remain one of the maritime industry’s most complex safety challenges. They are not simply a technology problem — they sit across the wider ecosystem of cargo declaration, risk visibility, vessel operations, insurance, detection, prevention, emergency response and industry adoption.
Over two days in Athens, anchor partners came together to discuss the progress of the programme, the barriers still facing the industry, and how collaboration can help move promising solutions closer to real-world impact.
In this episode, we discuss:
How the Cargo Fire & Loss Innovation Initiative is progressing Why cargo fire prevention requires ecosystem-wide collaboration What makes adoption difficult in safety-critical maritime environments The value of bringing partners together in person What we enjoyed most about Athens And yes — a robot dog makes an appearance
At Safetytech Accelerator, our work is focused on helping move innovation beyond pilots and into practical, trusted and scalable adoption. Cargo fire prevention is exactly the kind of challenge where that approach matters: complex, urgent, and impossible for any single organisation to solve alone.
There is no competition when it comes to safety.
At Singapore Maritime Week, we spent time speaking with operators, startups, and industry leaders to understand a simple question:
What’s actually holding innovation back?
This episode of Innovation to Impact: Road Diaries captures a raw, on-the-ground reflection from the week — not focused on new technology, but on the real challenges behind adoption.
Across conversations, a few themes kept coming up:
A lack of trust across the industry
Endless trials without decisions
The difficulty of balancing impact with competitiveness
The challenge of taking that first step
As one of the key takeaways from the week:
“no one in the industry really trusts each other”
And perhaps more importantly:
“you just need to get going”
At Safetytech Accelerator, we focus on closing the gap between innovation and real-world adoption — working across safety-critical industries to turn ideas into measurable impact.
This is the first in a series of Road Diaries recorded live from global industry events.
22 Apr 2026
STA at SMW #01: Midweek Reflections from Singapore Maritime Week
In this midweek reflection recorded live at Singapore Maritime Week, Marius Suteu and Sam Somerville-Ryan share their early observations from across the event.
Drawing on conversations with startups, operators, and industry stakeholders, they explore a central tension:
innovation is everywhere — but adoption remains a challenge.
The discussion focuses on the gap between building new technologies and deploying them in real-world maritime environments, and why many solutions struggle to gain traction despite strong intent across the industry.
20 Mar 2026
A New Chapter
What happens when innovation focuses on solving real problems instead of just looking innovative? In this episode, we sit down with Marius, Managing Director of Safetytech Accelerator, to explore what makes our approach different — and why that matters for the future of safety-critical industries.
Marius breaks down how we evaluate technology from a vendor-agnostic position, focusing on whether solutions actually work rather than promoting specific companies. We discuss the gap between promising trials and meaningful adoption, the barriers organisations face when implementing new technologies, and why impact — not just innovation — has to be at the centre of how we work.
From maritime to aviation, construction to mining, we're bridging the space between startups, industry partners, and regulators to ensure that innovation doesn't just make headlines — it makes a difference. And we're not just plugging holes; we're working to prevent them from appearing again.
Plus: Marius answers our signature question — if you could ban one technology forever, what would it be?
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