SafeShip

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Gemini insights for the CS JENNA
Searching for multiple ships in a 0.5 nautical mile radius

Inspiration

Each year, an estimated 20,000 whales are killed globally by collisions with vessels, making these collisions the leading cause of death for large whale species. This ongoing threat endangers the survival of these “ecosystem engineers”, posing a detrimental effect throughout the marine ecosystem.

The magnitude of this issue is undermined by the current protective measures in place. Only 7% of global collision hotspots have any safeguards in place. Furthermore, major shipping routes overlap with 92% of the ranges of key whale species, making the population even more vulnerable.

The devastation of these species is all the more preventable. Simple measures like adjusting shipping lanes, implementing mandatory speed limits in certain areas, and utilizing state-of-the-art whale detection systems can significantly reduce fatalities while posing no disruptions to the shipping industry.

To address the issue, we created the SafeShip initiative, a data-driven platform that not only monitors whale habitats, but also evaluates the risk of routes in real time and gives instantaneous rerouting suggestions. This initiative aims to save lives and protect vital marine biodiversity, while maintaining the efficiency of global shipping operations.

Features of SafeShip

The SafeShip system is a specialized detection system designed to prevent and minimize collisions between shipping vessels and whales. The SafeShip system encompasses a variety of data-oriented aspects which help protect marine biodiversity while ensuring minimal disruptions to the shipping industry, including:

Real-Time Tracking: Our system is able to monitor vessels in real time using AIS (Automatic identification system) Data. This allows for accurate and efficient pinpointing of these vessels as they approach high-risk areas.

Risk Assessment: It calculates the probability of whales being in the area, based off of historical data (past incidents in the area, etc) and environmental factors (migration patterns, mating season, etc)

Route Visualization and Risk Insights: The system is able to visualize ship trajectories and pathways to its final destination. Based on this information, the system issues an alert to vessels approaching high-risk areas, prompting them to take appropriate mitigation measures.

Technical Features and System Design

Frontend:

Built using React, Vite, and Leaflet to create a seamless, interactive map-based interference
Responsible for real-time visualization of vessel locations, movement paths and predicted high risk areas

Backend:

Implemented with Node.js and Express to coordinate data flow across services
Retrieves live vessel data from the MyShipTracking API
Caches incoming data to minimize API usage and forwards the ship coordinates to the machine learning service for further analysis

Machine Learning:

Developed as a lightweight Python Flask microservice
Utilizes scikit-learn with a trained GradientBoostingClassifier to estimate whale presence likelihood
The model was trained based off of historical data (past incidents in the area, etc) and environmental factors (migration patterns, mating season, etc)

Data Source:

Integrated the MyShipTracking API to obtain real-time terrestrial AIS data, such as the vessel position, speeds, headings and intended destination
Used the OBIS-CMAP dataset created by Duke University to analyze global whale movement patterns and distrubution trends

The Future of SafeShip

Moving forward, SafeShip aims to be a globally utilized platform, transforming how vessels navigate while protecting biodiversity. We aim to achieve this long term vision by:

Integrating directly with navigation systems used by ports, shipping vessels and maritime authorities
Collaborating with Conservation Organizations and Marine biologists
Expanding to protect other marine species heavily impacted by vessel collisions
Lobbying to implement effective policies, replacing the inadequate measures currently in place.
Utilizing satellite data to further strengthen our instantaneous model

Together, these implementations gear SafeShip towards being a state-of-the-art tool, which is the golden standard for sustainable ocean travel.