Maritime AI for bridge watchkeeping safety
Aware Mate
Preserve professional watchkeeping on increasingly automated bridges
Aware Mate is an on-board, human-in-the-loop vigilance and watchkeeping support system designed to help the officer of the watch stay alert, engaged, and operationally effective before risk escalates into a safety event.
It combines earlier on-board intervention with privacy-bounded operational insight, including alert trends, watch occupancy context, unattended or long-absence patterns, and, where enabled, traffic-adjusted risk review.
On-board processing
Human-in-the-loop
Privacy-first
Processing stays on board by default. No identity recognition. No emotion recognition. No ship-to-shore raw video by default.
- Operational bridge test: 72h continuous run
- 98.7% uptime
- P95 alert latency 2.4 s
Other ELNAV.AI projects
Additional systems in development by ELNAV.AI.
Helm Order Monitor
Speech recognition for safer manual steering
- ASR
- Helm orders
- Sensor context
An ELNAV.AI system in development for verifying spoken helm orders during hand steering, using automatic speech recognition and ship sensor context.
Project Sentinel
Marine environmental intelligence in development
- AI gliders
- In-situ sensing
- Pollution alerts
A concept for AI-enabled underwater gliders that detect illegal marine discharges and relay alerts for enforcement and environmental protection
More in development
From the press
The Europort Awards Stage was alive with excitement today, hosting not one but two major award ceremonies honouring innovation, digitalisation, and smart shipping excellence.
Later in the day, the spotlight turned to Europort’s Rising Stars, where ELNAV.AI received the Rising Star Award, including a €10,000 media package from HANSA.
ELNAV.AI is presented in the interview as a Croatian maritime technology company working on two problems that are often handled too late: human-factor risk on the bridge and pollution in coastal waters. The Adriatic is framed as a practical proving ground for systems that can later scale internationally.
The company says it is combining AI, maritime robotics, and operational experience at sea to build products that are usable in real conditions – not only in research settings. The stated objective is practical and measurable: fewer incidents, earlier pollution detection, and more reliable support for crews and institutions responsible for marine safety.
“AI in shipping should act as a copilot, not an autopilot.”
Miscommunication on the bridge is a known safety risk. In a joint research effort, Fraunhofer IDMT and ELNAV are evaluating speech‑technology use‑cases for maritime safety, primarily in lab and simulator settings. The work explores feasibility and robustness in noisy environments; specific product features and algorithms remain under development and subject to intellectual‑property filings. The prototype investigates whether modern speech technologies can support bridge resource management by helping crews review verbal coordination alongside routinely available bridge data. It is a research demonstrator and does not advise, control equipment, or replace existing safety systems.
Human error remains a major driver of marine loss
Allianz Commercial has previously reported that human error was a primary factor in 75% of the value of almost 15,000 marine liability claims analyzed. Its latest Safety and Shipping Review continues to highlight loss trends and risk pressures across global shipping.
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