SafeNav: Revolutionizing Maritime Navigation Towards a Safer Future for the Maritime Sector

In the dynamic and complex maritime environment, safe navigation requires quick and precise decision-making. Each decision impacts the safety of the vessel, crew, passengers, and cargo. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the shipping industry recognize the significant pressures navigators face. Managing multiple screens and frequent non-critical alarms can reduce alertness, causing sensory overload and cognitive fatigue, which increases the risk of judgment errors. 

The constant increase in congested waters and compliance with navigation rules add significant stress. Modern ships are equipped with numerous navigation tools and sensory feeds, considered critical, and must be operational per regulatory requirements. This means a navigator must continuously monitor, assess, and act upon these various feeds and alerts. 

Another concern is the detection gap due to the lack of advanced integrated sensor technology, resulting in the failure to identify floating or semi-submerged objects, floating containers, and marine mammals. Sea conditions and visibility also pose challenges, making it difficult to detect objects and vessels that are potential safety concerns. 

To address these challenges, we introduce SafeNav, an innovative navigation support solution co-funded by the European Commission (EC) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), developed in collaboration with 11 maritime industry partners. The core innovation of SafeNav is the integration of information from key navigation equipment into one decision support system. It features data processing, object detection, and collision avoidance capabilities, providing real-time outputs in a user-friendly interface, reducing sensory overload and alert fatigue for navigators. 

Enhanced situational awareness around the vessel is achieved using innovative sensors within the LADAR Sensor Suite, which includes LADAR and optical and thermal cameras for object detection and identification. With advancements in AI and digitalization, SafeNav’s algorithms are pivotal in fusing actionable information from various sensors and existing technologies, providing navigation decision support while adhering to the International Maritime Collision Avoidance Regulations (COLREGs). 

SafeNav’s user-friendly design features a graphical user interface serving as a single access point for the bridge team. Real-time detailed information on each vessel or target supports navigational assessment. Since the project’s launch, our consortium of technology and maritime experts has made substantial progress. The team has defined core technical and user specifications, which are the foundation for system development. 

SafeNav is on track to achieve the IMO's level one autonomy. We are developing our cloud-based software architecture, digitalizing navigation rules, developing the decision support system, building the navigation hazard database, and designing the AR and map view. The graphical user interface is designed by a UI/UX designer based on feedback from maritime end-users. We have showcased SafeNav at several industry conferences with great feedback. 

By providing real-time data to aid navigators in crucial collision avoidance decisions, SafeNav improves the operational environment for the bridge team. SafeNav is a future-focused navigation tool, a transformative approach ensuring a safer, enhanced navigational experience. SafeNav is a pivotal step towards an autonomous future. 

Author:  Jorgen Grindevoll,  Inventor of the SafeNav System