In this newly created position, Humphreys will lead the company’s commercial growth strategy, driving emerging market development opportunities as Saronic advances its dual-use fleet of autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs) and bolster American shipbuilding capacity through the buildout of the firm’s expansive shipyard and manufacturing facility, Port Alpha in Brownsville, Texas.

Humphreys brings more than three decades of commercial and technical leadership across maritime classification, manufacturing, and merchant shipping. Most recently, he served as President, Marine & Offshore for the Americas at Lloyd’s Register, where he oversaw the class society’s regional compliance, digital, and sustainability offerings. Prior to Lloyd’s Register, he was General Manager of Market Innovation and Global Merchant Shipping at Wärtsilä, leading innovation and commercial strategy for the merchant shipping segment.

Earlier in his career, Humphreys sailed as a licensed Chief Engineer in the US merchant marine, served as a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and as an officer in the US Naval Reserve.

Humphreys holds a Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering Systems and Nuclear Engineering from the US Merchant Marine Academy and a Master of Arts in the Philosophy and Theology of Science from Talbot School of Theology at Biola University.

Commenting on Humphreys’ appointment, Co-founder and CCO of Saronic Rob Lehman said: “Saronic has built an end-to-end approach to maritime autonomy, combining our proven autonomy stack, purpose-built vessels, and the ability to manufacture at scale, so we are excited to welcome Kevin Humphreys to lead our continued expansion into key commercial markets, and look forward to him applying those capabilities to establish Saronic as a long-term partner to commercial operators.”