Acheon Akti to expand EVI AI safety system after successful vessel trial

Acheon Akti is planning to expand its use of an artificial intelligence safety system across its fleet after a single-ship trial led to a sharp drop in navigation errors and near misses.

The shipping company tested the software, developed by EVI Safety Technology, on one of its vessels. Following the pilot, Acheon Akti chief executive Charalambos Manoli announced in the company’s corporate magazine, Argonaftis, that the business now intends to roll the technology out to more vessels.

The decision comes after a trial that produced some striking safety metrics. According to data released by EVI, the pilot vessel recorded an almost 20-fold reduction in near misses on the bridge. Other monitored areas on the ship saw at least a threefold improvement in safety performance.

Crucially for the ship's day-to-day operations, the total time the vessel spent in a state of recorded deviation—where operations drifted outside of standard safety parameters—plummeted by 69 per cent. Over the course of the trial, these deviations fell from a total of 8,839 minutes to 2,730 minutes.

How the EVI system works

Instead of requiring expensive new hardware installations, the EVI system connects directly to a vessel's existing CCTV cameras. It uses computer vision algorithms to scan these feeds in real time, identifying potential hazards and flagging them to the crew so they can take corrective action before an incident occurs.

Operating AI software at sea presents unique technical challenges, chiefly because satellite internet connections are often slow, expensive, or entirely unavailable. To bypass this, EVI's system processes all video footage locally on the vessel's own computer servers.

This edge-computing approach means the safety alerts work continuously, regardless of the ship's location. The software then packages up compressed data to sync with onshore teams when connectivity allows, enabling fleet managers to review incidents and track safety trends from land.

Integrating safety tech with crew training

Acheon Akti plans to run the AI software alongside its current KARCO safety training programme to help reinforce safety protocols among its crew.

"Having worked at sea myself, I know that safety technology has to earn its place in the crew’s daily work," said Vladimir Ponomarev, chief executive of EVI Safety Technology. He added that the system is built to help seafarers recognise a developing risk and act while there is still time to prevent an accident.

Neither company has yet confirmed the exact timeline for the wider rollout, or how many ships in the Acheon Akti fleet will be next to receive the technology.