DIGIMARINER XVIII AGENDA May 15, 2026 (All times Eastern)

11:30 AM Welcome, DigiMariner XVIII
Presenter: Dave Gardy, (KP ’80), CEO Maritime TV

11:35 AM Opening Keynote
A Modern Maritime Service Can Deliver What the Nation Needs
Presenter: Former U.S. Maritime Administrator Hon. Mark ‘Buz’ Buzby, Rear Admiral USN (Ret.)

12:00PMDemonstration of Kilo’s VASCO Virtual Reality (VR) System for Shipboard Bridge Simulator Training
Presenter: Andy Parkin, Managing Director, Kilo
https://www.kilo-solutions.com/vasco

12:30 PM Lunch Break with Sponsor Videos to include Liz Bouchard, Executive Director of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) on SNAME opportunities for Midshipmen

12:45 PM Problems/Solutions for Retention of qualified Deck & Engine Officers at MSC
Presenter: Rear Adm. Benjamin Nicholson, Commander of the Military Sealift Command (MSC), (KP ’93) (Invited)

1:00 PM Mariner Retention at APL
Presenter: Klaus Luhta, Director of Labor Relations, APL Maritime, Ltd., (KP ’98)

1:20 PMTowards a Sustainable Mariner Workforce – Innovative Training Technologies
Presenter: Talita Scarcela, Maritime and Emergency Response USA, Maersk Training

A dedicated team of alumni, led by the USMMA Class Of ’69 and known as the "Group of 69”, has initiated an opportunity for all alumni and industry thought leaders to positively impact the Academy and the entire US Merchant Marine community by proactively developing maritime digital technology education for dissemination within the Kings Point curriculum in preparation for the 4th Industrial Revolution. This is a call-to-action for every Kings Point alumnus and maritime professional who plays a role in the evolving digitalization of shipping or is involved within an operating maritime organization which has digital competencies, to participate in this initiative. The group has enlisted and are working with the USMMA Academic Dean and faculty to implement this program. To launch this effort, the group is working with Maritime TV to produce live virtual DIGIMARINER ‘mini-conferences’.

The initial goal is to create an accessible video repository database of educational knowledge regarding the many facets of the digitalization of the shipping for USMMA midshipmen, and eventually all maritime educational institutions and industry professionals.

Please note that sponsorship and presenter positions are still available for the archive of all prior DigiMariner Conferences. Sponsors will be pre-recorded in a video interview for later archiving on the DigiMariner conference webcast site(s) and provided a copy of the video interview for their own unlimited use. For more information on becoming a sponsor or a presenter for the series, please contact us at [email protected] or call (703) 961-9250 Ext. 221