Project Concept

Navigational accidents remain a key challenge for the maritime industry. Despite significant advances made in technology, ship design, regulatory implementation, and risk management systems over the past decade, navigational accidents continue to occur. The need of the hour is a dynamic solution that provides the navigational officer/officer on the watch (OOW) with real-time, 24/7 alerts can ensure timely decision-making and collision avoidance of navigational hazards.

Co-funded by the European Commission (EC) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the SafeNav Project will provide navigators with an easy-to-use decision support system – the Safer Navigation (SafeNav) system. The SafeNav system will be a highly innovative digital solution that will enhance safer navigation and assist vessels in avoiding collisions and accidents at sea.

Powered by automatic collision prevention and avoidance modules, the SafeNav system will provide navigators with an extensive survey of the vessel's surrounding environment in the form of a comprehensive decision support platform. Real-time input from state-of-the art sensors, including the LADAR™ Sensor Suite (which uses a combination of sensors and cameras to detect, classify, and track objects), and other relevant sources will ensure seamless data collection and fusion for the autonomous detection of vessels, marine mammals, floating containers, and other obstacles in the marine environment.

SafeNav’s proprietary collision-avoidance algorithms and real- time COLREGs-compliant suggestions will assist the navigator when an obstacle is detected and help reduce the pressure on navigators onboard. The system will serve as an efficient decision-making aid and provide access to visual navigation data - all on a single, easy-to-use graphical user-interface (GUI).

A vessel powered by the SafeNav system will be able to tap into the real-time data and alerts/notifications to ensure optimal and safe navigation during a voyage. The vision is for the SafeNav system to support semi- and/or fully autonomous vessel operations as a navigational aid.

Download the SafeNav Presentation

Project Objectives

SafeNav will aim for the following objectives during the project duration:

To develop, test and operationally verify the integrated digital SafeNav solution at Technology Readiness Level 7.

This solution will enhance safer navigation and reduce the frequency of navigational accidents at sea.

01 / 08

Some of the human factors resulting in navigational accidents include the inability to detect potential hazards due to dense traffic, fishing vessels, leisure crafts, floating debris and marine mammals while navigating intense traffic situations which can cause mental overload for the navigator.

02 / 08

The SafeNav service will assist navigators on-board by providing them with real-time information while making critical collision avoidance decisions, thereby improving the maritime working environment for the bridge team and the overall shipping safety.

The SafeNav system will reduce the navigator’s stress by providing a reliable navigational decision support system (DSS) with automated COLREG-based suggestions, and resultingly, enhance the crew’s situational awareness through a singular-point of access – a dynamic dashboard.

03 / 08

The SafeNav project will prioritize the mariner’s health and safety on the vessel by optimizing the workplace and promoting wellness when dealing with situations with a possibility of navigational hazards.

04 / 08

The SafeNav project will promote the timely detection and conservation of mammal life in the ocean environment, specifically the development and deployment of an alert system for cetaceans to avoid collisions with vessels.

05 / 08

The SafeNav system will utilize computer vision technology to issue automated notifications to a centralized SafeNav Navigational Hazards Database and aid in the tracking and recovery of lost containers at sea.

06 / 08

The goal is to eliminate or at least significantly reduce the frequency of navigational accidents while shifting how decisions regarding navigational hazards are made on-board (via a user-friendly graphical user interface), and for the SafeNav system to serve as a stepping-stone towards autonomous navigation.

07 / 08

The SafeNav project will result in a market-ready solution that is ready for commercialization.

08 / 08

Project Impact

The Consortium’s approach is focused on the end users and clients who stand to benefit the most from the ground-breaking innovation. TheSafeNav Project will contribute towards scientific, economical, technological, environmental and societal impacts.

Scientific

Development of collision avoidance algorithms / anti-collision automated module
Use of acoustic/electromagnetic pingers
Use of the existing patented LADAR Sensor Suite
Data Fusion and Decision Support Module
Decision Support System (DSS)

Economical & Technological

Digital Training for Navigators
Anti-collision Module and Collision Avoidance Algorithms for SafeNav System
Sensor Fusion and Enhanced Detection Tracking Performance
Web Application for Reporting Marine Mammal Detection and Collision Statistics

Environmental & Societal

Improvement of the navigational crew's decision-making
SafeNav supports the IMO's speed regulatory measures and the use if safer navigational system on vessels
Collection and storage of the observational data in the SafeNav Navigational Hazard Database which will support decision-making and policy-related work