WARRANT in Australia: Showcasing Maritime Innovation at IEEE IAWT 2025
November 22, 2025
WARRaNT Project Launches to Drive Safe, Secure and Resilient Maritime Digitalisation Across Europe
As maritime shipping and inland waterway transport undergoes rapid digital transformation, Europe faces a critical challenge - how to make digitalised vessels not just smarter, but also safer, more secure and resilient.
Enter WARRaNT — WAterborne fedeRated systems and models for secuRe and resilieNT operations — a new EU-funded initiative bringing together 14 leading organisations from across Europe in a strategic three-year mission, which had its physical kick-off meeting held in Athens on 24–25 June 2025. The project aims to develop and validate pioneering methodologies for the safe, secure and dependable operation of Waterborne Digital Systems (WDS).
“WARRaNT is more than a research project — it’s a strategic partnership to shape the digital backbone of Europe’s future maritime industry,” said Georgia Tsiochantari, Senior Project Manager in Inlecom Group.
Funded under the Horizon Europe programme (Call: CL5-2024-D6-01-10), WARRaNT will help future-proof Europe’s maritime sector by addressing the complex safety, cybersecurity and operational risks posed by increased automation, AI, and connectivity at sea.
“With our diverse and highly skilled consortium, we are ready to deliver practical tools and standards for a safer, smarter, and greener shipping sector,” added Anargyros S. Mavrakos, Senior Research Engineer in Inlecom Group.
Why WARRaNT matters now
At a time when cybersecurity threats, automation failures and environmental pressures converge at sea, WARRaNT steps in to build trust and resilience into the digital backbone of shipping.
The project will underpin the integration of AI, digital twins, cybersecurity and smart mobility systems, supporting the next generation of sustainable, autonomous and connected vessels across Europe.
What WARRaNT will deliver
- A validated methodology for dependable WDS and SRODS (Safe, Resilient Operations of Digitalised Ships), addressing AI, human factors, cyber threats, and remote/autonomous operations.'
- A collaborative Knowledge Platform to support risk-based design, simulation, data sharing, and assurance.
- Four real-world Living Labs testing innovations in:
o Containerships
o Smart Containers
o Autonomous Green Vessels
o Remote Shipping Operations - Wide-reaching stakeholder engagement through:
o A Stakeholder Alliance
o Training programmes and workshops
o Policy recommendations and standards development
A Consortium anchored in expertise WARRaNT unites 14 partners from eight countries, spanning the full maritime innovation chain, from research and development to industrial deployment and regulatory compliance:
• INLECOM Group (Belgium) – Project Coordinator and leader in digitalisation strategies, resilience frameworks, and transport dataspaces. Also leads the WDS dependability framework and dataspace.
• SINTEF Ocean (Norway) – Leads methodology and standardisation for dependable waterborne digital systems.
• SINTEF Digital (Norway) – Cybersecurity assurance and training.
• DNV AS (Norway) – Risk assurance, , classification and certification expertise.
• DST (Germany) – Leads the Living Lab on autonomous green vessels.
• TU Delft (Netherlands) – Safe and autonomous marine vessels systems and operations.
• VLTN (Belgium) – Stakeholder modelling and adoption pathway simulations.
• TECNALIA (Spain) – Cybersecurity tools and privacy-enhancing technologies.
• NTUA (Greece) – Leads Living Labs ecosystem and HAZOP risk analysis.
• SEAFAR (Belgium) – Leads the Living Lab on dependable remote operations.
• AELER (Switzerland) – Leads Smart Container Systems Living Lab.
• KONNECTA (Greece) – Knowledge Platform development, digital twins and AI.
• DANAOS Shipping (Cyprus) – Leads Living Lab on digital containership operations.
• Port of Antwerp-Bruges (Belgium) – Associated partner on port-ship cyber-resilience.
