Artificial Intelligence at Sea: an application helps predict the threat of a pandemic on ships

12.9.2024Janne LahtinenNews

DESSEV (Decision Support System regarding the risk of Epidemic threats on a sea-going Vessel) is a multinational Erasmus+ project that brings together European institutions specializing in vocational education. The goal of the project is to design and develop a decision support system for maritime personnel, providing early warnings and guidance in the event of a potential epidemic outbreak.

People gathered around a table with their laptops on the table.
DESSEV partners in Szczecin, Poland, in September 2024. Photo: Janne Lahtinen

This system is aimed at enhancing decision-making processes on ships, helping crews to quickly assess risks and take necessary preventive measures to protect the health and safety of everyone on board.

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed deficiencies in the mechanisms for managing and preventing disease emergencies. Often, existing procedures and operational models are not adapted to the realities they are intended to address. In some cases, there is also a lack of a solid legal foundation for implementing epidemic response protocols.

The DESSEV project focuses on the challenges of early detection of epidemic outbreaks aboard commercial vessels. In practice, a ship becomes a mobile, isolated environment with a high potential to spread infections over a larger area.

As part of this project, a web-based application has been developed that predicts possible illnesses based on reported symptoms. The predictive models for the application were built using a database created by medical experts, which includes case studies and peer-reviewed medical information. In the web application, users select symptoms that best match their situation from a listed set. The AI-powered application then determines the most likely diagnosis based on the database and the selected symptoms.

The web-based application is available to users globally in various language versions. Currently, translations are available in English, Spanish, Greek, Swedish, Slovenian, and Finnish.

The following organizations are involved in the DESSEV project:

  • The Maritime University of Szczecin (a maritime university in Szczecin, Poland)
  • Spinaker (a company specializing in developing web-based educational solutions)
  • Maria Sklodowska-Curie Medical Academy (a medical university in Warsaw, Poland)
  • Satakunta University of Applied Sciences (Finland)
  • The Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya (a university of applied sciences in Barcelona, Spain)
  • Centre for Factories of the Future Sweden HB (a producer of information systems)
  • IDEC (an education consultancy company based in Piraeus, Greece)

Co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union logo.

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