The first read every maritime professional can trust.

Abdel Banda brings deep, cross-functional expertise in shipbuilding, offshore operations, drilling, petroleum markets, finance, and infrastructure development. Based in Houston, he serves as Director - Africa at Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO), where he has led strategic business development and operations supporting major energy clients since 2010. A University of Notre Dame graduate with a B.A. in Finance, he also contributes as a strategic advisor and board observer at Ocean Aero Inc., advancing innovative autonomous ocean vehicles.

Abdel's comprehensive understanding of shipbuilding contracts, vessel financing structures, offshore project execution, and international regulatory landscapes makes him a critical advisor to Marintel.co. He provides guidance on industry standards, risk frameworks, and practical nuances in newbuilding programs and S&P deals. His insights help refine the platform's AI capabilities to detect contractual gaps, financial exposures, and compliance issues, while strengthening Marintel.co's ability to deliver verifiable, blockchain-supported trust mechanisms for global maritime stakeholders.

Court Smith is a maritime and energy markets specialist with extensive experience in data infrastructure, commercial partnerships, shipbroking, research, and market analysis. At Kpler, he serves as Partnership Lead - Maritime, driving data sourcing strategies, stakeholder engagement, and intelligence solutions that enhance visibility into global shipping and trade flows. His background includes shipbroking roles, newbuild and second-hand vessel transactions, analyst leadership, and prior service with the US Coast Guard in marine casualty investigations.

Court's blend of commercial acumen, data expertise, and operational insight is highly valuable to Marintel.co. He advises on market context, data quality, and user needs for AI-powered contract analysis — helping the platform surface hidden risks, conflicts, and non-compliance issues in shipbuilding and S&P agreements. His experience in casualty investigations and strategy further strengthens Marintel.co's focus on building autonomous trust layers and regulatory intelligence that reduce manual effort and elevate transaction confidence across the shipping industry.

Jonathan Laporte is a leading maritime technology innovator specializing in autonomy, remote operations, and the integration of advanced software into real-world shipping and subsea environments. As Head of Software, Autonomy & Remote Operations at Fugro, he drives the development of scalable autonomy platforms across diverse vessel types. He previously founded and scaled the DriX uncrewed surface vessel (USV) program at iXblue (now Exail), taking it from concept to global market leadership in under a year.

Jonathan's expertise in AI-driven systems, collision avoidance, and reliable autonomous operations is directly relevant to Marintel.co's mission. He advises on the technical architecture and deployment of AI tools that rapidly analyze complex shipbuilding and S&P contracts, identify operational and regulatory risks, and support autonomous decision-making. His hands-on experience bridging domain expertise with cutting-edge technology helps Marintel.co deliver robust, real-time intelligence that enhances safety, compliance, and trust in high-stakes maritime transactions.

Bo Curry is a U.S. Navy veteran whose nearly nine years of active and reserve service as an Aviation Officer and Seabee gave him the operational discipline and engineering foundation that has defined a distinguished 25-year career across federal infrastructure, nuclear, and civil projects including with Bechtel and the FAA.

His deep expertise in coordinating complex, compliance-driven projects across engineering, operations, and regulatory stakeholders translates directly to the precision and rigor that maritime transactions demand. Bo's ability to align technical resources with exacting timelines and standards makes him an exceptional addition to Marintel's growing advisory network.

Tom Koltis brings nearly 20 years of large-scale infrastructure, M&A, and project finance experience to the Marintel Advisory team, having served as Regional CEO, General Counsel, and SVP across global energy and infrastructure platforms at Covanta and its European subsidiaries.

His track record of structuring complex cross-border deals and building businesses from the ground up gives him rare commercial and legal depth that is directly applicable to the high-stakes transaction environments Marintel serves.