About
The maritime in the blood
since 1991
From ship bridges to a network of converging commitments to build tomorrow's maritime world.
The founding moment — Marseille, 2013
A double awakening
In 2013, between sea assignments, Colomban joined Bourbon onshore to aggregate the environmental data from ships and produce the annual report for shareholders. It was a founding shock: the data was catastrophically poor, collected monthly on paper or spreadsheets, with no reliability whatsoever.
The technological gap was abyssal — the maritime industry was decades behind digitally. Meanwhile, the environmental impact was massive and invisible: without reliable data, impossible to measure, therefore impossible to improve.
It was in Marseille in 2013 that the conviction was born: technology (making knowledge actionable) and the environment (reducing impacts) are inseparable in the transformation of the maritime world.
The triple evolution
Two transitions,
one revolution
The maritime world faces three unprecedented transformations. These are not threats: they are opportunities for a more sustainable society.
Technological transition
90% of the world's population has 4G, but 70% of the global fleet still uses paper logbooks. The maritime industry must not go through digitisation: it must enter a digital era immediately, post web.
Ecological transition
Decarbonisation, sail, hydrogen, floating wind. Maritime holds the promise of clean energy — 45 GW of marine renewable energy by 2050 in France — and transport 7 times less carbon-intensive than road. While the immediate focus is often decarbonisation, let us not forget there are 9 planetary boundaries to preserve, and maritime has its part in each.
Sociocultural revolution
Maritime transitions that forget the social dimension — the seafarers — are mere yachting. Maritime stakeholders must embrace the great challenges of the 21st century. Drawing on maritime values — long-term thinking, crew spirit, pioneer spirit, humility — they must actively contribute both to transforming their world and to revealing it, to inspire society.
Since the shock of 2013 in Marseille, these three transformations have become the guiding thread of every one of his commitments. Colomban sailed on ships that had no internet on board in the 2010s, watched shipowners discover the extent of their environmental footprint, seen seafarers excluded from the debates shaping their own future. These three realities are not isolated problems: they form a system. It is by addressing them together — technology, environment, society — that the maritime world can become a lever for global transformation.
Values
What guides every commitment
Long-term thinking
The maritime world teaches patience and long-term vision. Planning, projecting into the future — the rhythm of the sea is not that of immediacy.
Trust & crew spirit
Shipowners entrusted their future to the captain with no news for months. At sea, the strength of the collective and the interdependence of the crew are vital. This tradition guides every commitment.
Innovation
The pioneer spirit of the great discoveries — the first startups and fundraisings in history. Innovating with conscience and frugality, not techno-solutionism.
Sustainability
A holistic approach to planetary boundaries. Climate is only one of 9 boundaries. The maritime world must integrate sustainable society in all its dimensions.
Humility
Facing elements we cannot control, knowledge we cannot fully acquire, discoveries we never stop making at sea. Nothing is ever taken for granted at sea.
Colomban
A few milestones
- Father of 3 children
- Childhood in Ireland, on boats — where the vocation was born
- Charted his course despite struggles with mathematics
- Merchant Navy Officer, graduate of ENSM
- 5 entrepreneurial ventures
- Passionate about cartography — maps are a powerful storytelling medium
- Based in Annecy-le-Vieux
Bibliography
A few decisive reads
- La Mer, ses valeurs —
An exploration of the values transmitted by the sea and the maritime world.
- The Old Man and the Sea —
A Cuban fisherman's battle against a giant marlin — a parable of human perseverance.
- Navires de l'espoir —
The adventure of hospital ships serving those most in need.
- Algocratie —
How algorithms shape our societies and threaten our freedoms.
- Tentative d'épuisement de l'avenir du futur —
A reflection on the technological promise and its limits when facing the future.
- The Obsolescence of Man —
Humanity outpaced by its own technical creations.
- Le Rôle social de l'officier —
The officer's duty to society, beyond military command.
- The Phenomenon of Man —
A vision of human evolution towards a collective planetary consciousness.
- Tools for Conviviality —
A critique of industrial society and a plea for tools that serve humanity.
- Voyage dans l'Anthropocène —
Testimony from the pioneering glaciologist on climate change.
- This Is Marketing —
Marketing as a generous act of change in service of others.
- Decisive Moments in History —
Fourteen decisive moments that changed the course of history.
- N'aie pas peur —
A meditation on Orthodox faith, courage and trust in the face of the unknown.
- How Google Works —
The management and innovation principles that built Google.
- Healthy Business —
Building a healthy, high-performing company aligned with its values.
- J'ai toujours vécu demain —
Memoirs of the polar explorer, pioneer of French expeditions in the Arctic and Antarctic.
- Why North Is Up —
How cartographic conventions shape our vision of the world.
- Propaganda —
The mechanisms of mass manipulation and the engineering of consent.
- The Power of Now —
Reflections on spiritual awakening and mindful presence in the moment.
- The Age of Low Tech —
Towards a technically sustainable civilisation, against technological solutionism.
- Crises of the Republic —
Reflections on politics, institutional lying and its consequences.
- A Brief History of the Future —
A forecast of the next fifty years of humanity.
- The Great Transformation —
An analysis of the rise of market economy and its social consequences.