Maritime
While Artificial Intelligence’s impact on weather forecasting helps optimise voyage planning, its applications extend to real-time navigation, where it plays a crucial role in collision avoidance, another area where machine learning-based Artificial Intelligence is making significant strides. Advanced AI-powered navigation systems integrate data from radar, GPS, and Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) to detect nearby vessels, predict their movement, and autonomously adjust a vessel’s course to avoid collisions. These systems help ships make real-time decisions, even in low visibility or crowded waters. One example is
SEA.AI.
SEA.AI uses the latest camera technology in combination with artificial intelligence to alert crews early and reliably about objects on the surface of the water — objects that might otherwise escape conventional systems like Radar or AIS. Whether it's unsignalled craft, floating obstacles, buoys, inflatables, kayaks, or even persons overboard,
SEA.AI can detect and classify these potential hazards in real-time. The ability to reliably detect and respond to obstacles on the water, particularly those that are not easily picked up by traditional sensors, is crucial in preventing accidents and improving navigational security.
As Artificial Intelligence and other technologies advance, the role of the skipper is also evolving. Navigational tasks that once required constant human attention — like monitoring foils or adjusting sail settings — are now assisted or even automated by Artificial Intelligence, freeing up sailors to focus on more strategic decisions. The evolution of autopilot systems in high-performance sailing boats exemplifies this trend. MADBrain, a cutting-edge autopilot system developed by Madintec, is a champion of this. Powered by artificial intelligence, MADBrain continuously optimises a boat's performance, autonomously adjusting the rudder based on real-time data, such as speed, position, wind conditions, and wave patterns. As it learns from each sailing experience, the system improves its reactions and performance, ensuring the vessel stays on course even in challenging conditions.
The integration of systems like MADBrain and SEA. AI is revolutionising how modern boats are sailed. For this reason, even the insurance industry is embracing AI. Insurers are increasingly turning to AI to assess risks, streamline underwriting, and optimise claims management for both large vessels and smaller crafts. AI is helping insurers predict potential risks more accurately, set more appropriate premiums, and even anticipate claims before they occur. This data-driven approach is revolutionising risk management in both commercial shipping and recreational boating. Some insurers are even using AI to monitor ships in real-time, offering proactive maintenance suggestions to prevent costly repairs and operational disruptions.
Interestingly, many innovations that are transforming how we think about commercial maritime operations get tested in the world of sailboat racing — where the goal is not just to win but to push the boundaries of technology. Teams invest millions in research and development, and every race introduces new advancements in boat design, performance, and safety. The AI tools developed for these high-speed, high- risk races are increasingly being integrated into commercial vessels, autonomous shipping, and even marine surveying. For instance, the same AI that helps race teams optimise their strategies in real time is being adapted to improve navigation systems on larger vessels. What starts in the high-stakes world of racing often filters down to influence commercial shipping, recreational boating, and other maritime sectors, showing the intersectionality of Artificial Intelligence.
136 | ISSUE 111 | MAR 2025 | THE REPORT
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