Meet the Founder
Maritime engineer. Self-taught developer. 50,000+ users.
Alex Hughes
Founder & CEO, Lokey Labs
Creator of Sea Trials
Alex Hughes is a licensed marine engineer, U.S. Navy Reserve officer, and self-taught software developer. He spent five years sailing commercially and managing operations at The Vane Brothers Company — and built the leading USCG exam prep platform on the side.
The Maritime Career
Alex's ties to The Vane Brothers Company go back to high school. He started there as a deckhand on a 4,200-horsepower towing vessel at 17 and earned his Tankerman PIC endorsement the following summer. He left for the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, where he served as Class President and delivered the commencement address for the Class of 2017.
After graduating with a B.S. in Marine Engineering, Alex began his five-year MARAD sailing obligation. He shipped out with AMO as an engineer on tankers, and continued sailing for Vane Brothers as well. Between voyages, he took on shore-side management roles at Vane Brothers — serving as vessel supervisor during the company's expansion to Seattle, then as fleet supervisor. He spent those years moving between the ships and the office, handling both operational management and active sailing.
Building Sea Trials
In 2018, Alex founded Mariner License Prep after recognizing that USCG exam prep had no modern technology. He taught himself iOS development in Swift, then picked up relational databases, Android development in Kotlin, and web development with Bootstrap and JavaScript. It grew from there — eventually into Flutter, Firebase, and the full cross-platform stack that powers the platform today. He shipped the first version of Sea Trials while still sailing and managing operations at Vane Brothers.
For five years he ran the entire platform solo — development, design, support, everything — while maintaining a full-time maritime career. The platform grew from zero to over 50,000 users with a 4.8-star rating across every USCG license type.
The platform now runs across every major device — iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, and web — with offline-first sync, adaptive learning, and a full CI/CD pipeline that ships updates to all of them from a single codebase.
Going Full-Time & Scaling
In 2023, Alex stepped away from maritime operations to focus on the platform full-time. He invested in design, modern tooling, and team leadership — and began managing developers full-time.
In 2026, he rebranded as Lokey Labs and built a white-label CI/CD pipeline to expand into new verticals — aviation, medical licensing, and beyond. He now leads a growing engineering team and manages the full product lifecycle from architecture to deployment.
Licenses & Credentials
- B.S. Marine Engineering & Shipyard Management — U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Class of 2017)
- Third Assistant Engineer — Unlimited Horsepower, Any Ocean (USCG)
- LT (O-3) — United States Navy Reserve
- Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)
- Tankerman Person-In-Charge — Dangerous Liquids (Barge)
- Refrigeration Transition & Recovery — Universal Certification
Technical Skills
Languages & Frameworks
Dart, Flutter, TypeScript, Node.js, Swift, React, Next.js, HTML/CSS
Backend & Data
Supabase, PostgreSQL, Firebase, Cloud Functions, PowerSync, BigQuery
AI & ML
OpenAI API, Google Vertex AI, Gemini, on-device inference (Gemma/LiteRT)
DevOps & Tooling
GitHub Actions, Codemagic, Melos, Turborepo, Docker, custom Rust CLI tools
Design & Product
Figma, UI/UX design principles, user research, A/B testing, analytics-driven iteration
Leadership
Agile/Scrum, team management, technical architecture, cross-functional coordination
The Journey
A decade of maritime engineering, management, and software development.
Baltimore, Maryland
Grew up on the water in Baltimore — a port city where maritime runs in the blood. Early obsession with how things work, from diesel engines to electronics.
First Job at Sea
Deckhand on a 4,200-horsepower towing vessel with The Vane Brothers Company. Earned a Tankerman PIC endorsement the following summer — loading and discharging dangerous liquid cargoes at 17.
High School & Robotics
Graduated high school after leading the robotics team. Accepted into the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point.
U.S. Merchant Marine Academy
Marine Engineering & Shipyard Management at Kings Point. Elected Class President, sailed on commercial and military vessels around the world. Wrote his first real code — Python ship trackers — during a summer internship at a defense contractor.
Graduated & Commissioned
Graduated with a B.S. in Marine Engineering, delivered the commencement address, and commissioned as a Navy Reserve officer. Began his five-year MARAD sailing obligation with AMO as an engineer on tankers.
Founded Mariner License Prep
USCG exam prep had no modern technology — outdated books and zero feedback. Taught himself iOS development, then databases, Android, and web. Founded Mariner License Prep and shipped the first version of Sea Trials while sailing full-time.
Sailing, Vane Brothers & Sea Trials
Sailed as an engineer with AMO and Vane Brothers while building Sea Trials on the side. Between voyages, took on shore-side roles at The Vane Brothers Company — vessel supervisor during the company's expansion to Seattle, then fleet supervisor. Grew the platform from zero to tens of thousands of users as a one-person operation.
Went Full-Time on the Product
Stepped away from maritime operations to focus entirely on the platform. Invested in design, tooling, and team leadership. Started managing developers and consulting on exam prep technology.
Scaled to 50,000+ Users
Grew Sea Trials into the leading USCG exam prep platform — 4.8-star rating, every license type covered, native apps on every device. Assembled a growing engineering team.
Rebranded as Lokey Labs
Rebranded Mariner License Prep as Lokey Labs. Built a white-label CI/CD pipeline to rapidly expand the platform into new verticals — aviation, medical licensing, and beyond. Launched a partner program for domain experts. Three engineers and scaling.
Let's Build Something Together
Bring your exam content to the platform, explore a partnership, or just connect.