First in marine telemedicine

Maritime technology innovator Martek Marine has launched the world’s first affordable telemedicine service, which is claimed will revolutionise seafaring healthcare and could lead to annual industry-wide savings of up to US$168 million. At any given time, 1.5 million seafarers are operating around 55,000 merchant vessels. Of these, around seven per cent each year will be evacuated from the vessel due to ill health. The annual cost to the industry of diversions and helicopter evacuations is $760 million, almost a quarter of which are ultimately unnecessary. iVital, the brainchild of the UK and Singapore-based company, could save shipowners through avoiding costly course diversions and helicopter evacuations through misdiagnosis of ill or injured crew members.