The Watch keepers, a founder story

Night sea. Red Sea lane. A deckhand stares at a dead Wi-Fi login like it owes him money. He’s got ten words to send “I’m safe. I’m on watch. I love you.”—and nothing lands. That’s the moment the story begins.

I’m Andrew. My family has 166 years of Scottish maritime heritage. We owned and managed ships. I went to sea as a cadet, then came ashore. In 2019 I pulled together a straight-talk mental-health workshop with RAF mental-health nurses and other practitioners—no fluff, just how to breathe through a 03:00 panic and come home whole. Later I worked with Garmin and Oracle because health at sea isn’t a nice-to-have; it’s the bottom line.

My business partner is Chris. He is former UK military and then worked as an armed guard in some of the world’s most dangerous locations. He understands threat, timing, and calm—the difference between noise and signal when it matters.

We didn’t meet in a café. We met online, two blocks of text on a laggy call, same thought in both heads: the heroes of world trade are getting rinsed—by geopolitics, by dead routers, by roaming that eats wages. First aim: protect seafarers in the Red Sea. Next: connect them to the people who keep them human, in good times and bad.

So we built NEUROS. Not an app circus. A tool. An eSIM that turns on when the port goes dark, when the company’s 1GB is gone by lunch, when rumours outrun facts and you need truth, advisories, orders, a message home—now. Signal when it matters. Silence when it doesn’t.

Why it matters is simple:

• Because a voice note from Manila at the right minute is the difference between a steady watch and a shaking hand.
• Because earning more starts with staying on the job, documents sent, pilots briefed, delays avoided.
• Because saving more means no bill shock, fair prices, a standing seafarer discount, money going to your family not to a tower you never saw.
• Because basic human rights include the right to speak to your loved ones and the right to privacy by default no tracking, no harvesting, no games.
• Because respect is not a poster; it’s a connection that works and shuts up when you’re done.
• Because support should be there at 03:00, in words you don’t have to translate.
• Because wellness at sea isn’t a hashtag; it’s sleep after you tell them you’re safe.
• This is the kit we’re building, quiet, dependable tools that return control to the person on watch. The eSIM is the first piece. There will be more.

We’re not the show. The seafarer is. We just make sure the line holds—from the Red Sea to Manila, from a dark bridge to a bright kitchen light, from “Are you okay?” to “I’m home soon.”

NEUROS—built by seafarers. For seafarers. We connect them.