On losing a friend, a co-founder and a voice I relied on every day.
On 13 July, I lost one of the most important people in my life.
Andy Hurley wasn’t just a co-founder or a colleague—he was my best friend, my daily sounding board and someone who truly understood what we were building and why. His sudden passing left a hole in my world—professionally, yes—but far more deeply, personally.
This isn’t a blog I ever expected to write.
A friend, a leader, a force
Andy was well known across the maritime industry—respected, trusted and genuinely liked. He had a presence: calm under pressure, razor-sharp in strategy and relentlessly kind.
But beyond the external impact, he was part of my every day. We didn’t just talk strategy. We talked life. Pressure. Parenting. Burnout. Sailing. Weird LinkedIn posts. Technology ideas that were either genius or madness—or both.
And now, those daily messages are just… gone.
Leading through the grief
As a founder, you learn to wear a thousand hats. But nothing prepares you for suddenly needing to lead a team through grief while you’re still deep in it yourself.
I’ve struggled. Some days I’ve shown up as a leader. Other days, I’ve just… shown up. And that’s had to be enough.
Grief doesn’t respect deadlines. It doesn’t care about launch schedules, investor updates or how well the sprint is going. But your team still needs clarity, and many of them were close to Andy too.
So I’ve tried to hold space—for them, for the company and somehow for myself.
What I’ve learned so far
- You can’t lead instead of grieving. You have to do both. And neither will look perfect.
- It’s okay to be vulnerable. Telling the team how I felt wasn’t weakness—it was trust.
- People remember how you are, not just what you do. Being present, honest and human has mattered more than having all the answers.
- Legacy is built in what we carry forward. Andy helped shape Marine Zero. That doesn’t end with his passing. It lives in the values, the people and the mission we keep building.
Honouring Andy
We will keep finding ways to honour Andy’s contributions—within the company and, I hope, in the wider maritime community.
He believed fiercely in the future we were building: clean technology, scalable decarbonisation and real systems change. That vision continues. We carry it with him in mind.
For me personally, I’ll never have another business partner like Andy. But I’ll forever be a better founder, and person, because of him.
Closing
If you knew Andy, I’d love to hear your memories.
If you’ve gone through something similar—the loss of a partner, friend or team member—and found ways to lead through it, I’d be grateful to learn from you.
And if you’re navigating grief yourself, know this: you’re not weak. You’re human. And showing up is sometimes the strongest thing you can do.
Andy Hurley
Co-founder, colleague and friend.
Missed every day—remembered in everything we build.