Sustainable Humanitarian Navigation: Intelligent Energy Optimization System for the Open Arms Vessel
The Central Mediterranean has become one of the most dangerous migratory routes in the world. Every year, thousands of people attempt to cross the sea fleeing armed conflicts, persecution, extreme poverty, or situations of humanitarian vulnerability, often aboard precarious vessels and under severe risk to human life.
In this context, the Open Arms Foundation has been conducting search and rescue operations at sea for years with the goal of protecting lives and ensuring assistance to individuals in emergency situations at sea. Furthermore, the organization works on awareness, training, and reporting human rights violations linked to forced migration.
However, maintaining these types of humanitarian operations also poses a major technical, logistical, and financial challenge. Fuel accounts for approximately 30% of the annual operating cost of the Open Arms vessel.
Activities carried out during the project
Improving the vessel's energy efficiency can directly translate into greater operational autonomy, cost reduction, and more efficient use of resources dedicated to saving human lives.
To address this need, the project proposes developing an intelligent system capable of analyzing the vessel's energy behavior in real time using advanced Machine Learning techniques, onboard sensors, and digital monitoring. The solution will allow the study of the relationship between operational variables and fuel consumption, the identification of operating patterns, and progress toward energy optimization strategies specifically tailored to search and rescue humanitarian missions.
The project also reinforces the collaboration between the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya and the Open Arms Foundation, consolidating a joint line of work aimed at applying engineering, digitalization, and technological innovation to real contexts of cooperation and humanitarian action.
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