Cognition-enabled Explainable Decision AI for Resilient maritime systems (CEDAR)

Purpose and goal

CEDAR develops explainable, cognition-aware decision AI for the maritime industry, integrated into Cetasol´s iHelm platform. The goal is to give crews and fleet operators transparent recommendations they can trust and act on, improving fuel efficiency, emissions, safety, and operational resilience. The project will advance the technology from prototype to TRL-7/8 validation on commercial vessels, supporting Sweden´s leadership in digitalised, climate-neutral shipping.

Expected effects and result

CEDAR will deliver a validated explainable decision-AI framework in Cetasol´s iHelm platform, demonstrated on commercial vessels with measurable gains in fuel efficiency, emissions, safety, and crew trust. Expected effects include faster industry adoption of trustworthy maritime AI, accelerated decarbonisation of operating fleets, new export opportunities for Swedish maritime tech, and a stronger national position in applied AI for safety-critical industrial systems.

Planned approach and implementation

CEDAR is delivered in four work packages: (1) explainable AI methods for maritime decision support, (2) cognition-aware human-machine interaction models, (3) integration into Cetasol´s iHelm platform, and (4) onboard validation with industry partners across ferries, tugs and cargo vessels. The project combines academic research, agile software development, and iterative sea trials, with continuous feedback from crews and fleet operators to ensure operational relevance and scalable deployment.