Ichor Fitness featured in SC&S Magazine – September 2025 !
Wearable tech at sea
From preventing accidents to tracking crew well being, a new wave of wearable technology is reshaping life at sea – shifting safety and health from reactive measures to proactive protection.
Life at sea has always carried a degree of risk. On a pitching deck in the North Atlantic or an engine room deep inside a steel hull, a single slip or unseen hazard
can escalate into disaster. Despite decades of safety training and the most rigorous procedures, maritime incident rates have stubbornly refused to fall.
Tech is starting to change that story, with a new generation of wearable quietly transforming both safety and well being at sea. Indeed, they’re not only saving lives in emergencies but also helping crews to live healthier and more sustainably on board. It’s quite the revolution.
ANDERS SCHENING“Even if safety is number one, the incident numbers in the marine industry haven’t gone down in ten years,” he says. “And the risks aren’t purely physical. Long stretches at sea,
Even if safety is number one, the incident numbers in the marine industry haven’t gone down in ten years. And the risks aren’t purely physical
CEO at LifeFinder Systems International AB
Dealing the risk environment
Shipping is unforgiving, and even well-trained crews equipped with the latest PPE face hazards each day. Falls overboard, fires and mechanical accidents remain persistent threats; but as Anders Schening of Life Finder explains it is not something we have to accept.
shift work, and isolation can erode both fitness and mental resilience. The device [that LifeFinder makes] is a really valuable ally for them.”
He’s not wrong. The device is it is a kind of digital guardian angel, born from a simple insight: traditional safety gear is reactive, not proactive. So, while a helmet protects your head, and a life jacket keeps you afloat, neither alerts anyone when an incident occurs.
LifeFinder’s wearable changes that. The device is small and durable, and above all versatile. It integrates with vessel systems to detect abnormal events and provide alerts, even in areas with no cellular coverage.
TOM HOLMES
Freelance Supply Chain Writer
“There isn’t much it can’t do,” Anders explains. “It can detect fires, man overboard incidents, and monitor temperature and other environmental factors. It is most definitely
a guardian angel, watching your back at work every day.”
The company’s trials back that up. Initial use cases during trials showed that it detected falls into water and provided alerts well before hypothermia would set in; it also monitored crew location during on board fires, allowing firefighting systems to activate only when everyone is safe. And by sensing heat or chemical signatures from EV vehicles, it can detect fires before flames are visible.
“In that way the impact is both human and financial,” Anders says. “It can keep crew safe but also prevent total loss of vessels or cargo. So, it protects not just lives, but livelihoods too. Insurers, I think, will take note and shipping companies will see a path toward reduced premiums and less downtime.”
Wearables for well-being
If LifeFinder’s focus is survival, Ichor Fitness looks at the daily challenge of thriving at sea – both physically and mentally. The company’s philosophy is holistic, combining fitness, nutrition, and mindset coaching to build sustainable habits over time.
Technology is here to serve your well-being, not the other way around. We encourage crew members to use wearables as awareness tools
JENNA ZAFIROPOULOS
Founding Partner Ichor Fitness
As with life on shore, wearable tech plays a supporting role in delivering that ethos via an app. By tracking key metrics like steps, heart rate and sleep quality, it bridges the gap between perceptions and reality – and helps crew to make incremental improvements from where they start their wellness journey.
Jenna Zafiropoulos, Founding Partner of Ichor Fitness, says, “Someone might assume they’re active throughout the day, but until they track their steps, they may not realise how sedentary their routine actually is.” The approach is flexible, with Ichor keen for its use to be both mindful and moderate. Overuse,
it warns, can lead to obsessive tracking, anxiety or feelings of failure.
“Technology is here to serve your well-being, not the other way around,” Jenna adds. “We encourage crew members to use wearables as awareness tools. If they enjoy tracking every step and heartbeat, great.
“If they prefer to use them occasionally, that’s equally valid. And if someone wants to follow their own internal cues instead, that’s a legitimate choice too. This is how we feel about nutrition tracking as well.”
It is a philosophy that resonates strongly in the high-pressure, high-responsibility world of work at sea, where autonomy is a critical part of mental health. It is a reminder too that technology is in place to augment human experience rather than replace it.
It is on that point that LifeFinder and Ichor converge and build their respective success, despite operating
in different spaces. LifeFinder doesn’t replace a lifejacket, but it does enhance its effectiveness; Ichor doesn’t replace self-awareness, it deepens it.
Both have an ease of use which drives adoption –
crews are way more likely to use tech that is lightweight, unobtrusive and reliable. They also share a respect
for privacy and autonomy, rejecting the idea of surveillance, instead tracking during incidents or leaving use to
the individual.
Equally, they shift the focus of action from reactive to proactive, giving users autonomy and discretion, and shifting safety and wellness from a mindset of cure to one of prevention, mitigating risks before they become full scale problems.
The future of human-centered maritime tech
The industry is entering an era where data and human experience intersect. Safety technology like LifeFinder will likely become standard equipment on vessels within five years, while wellness programs like Ichor’s will help reduce burnout and improve health among seafarers.
From cargo decks to engine rooms, and from offshore wind farms to oil platforms, wearables have the capacity to redefine what it means to live and work at sea. They’re not just gadgets, they’re partners in protecting both life and longevity, in improving the quality of the environment and the lives of those of who inhabit it.
As Anders reflects, the mission is simple: “Saving lives is always number one. But if we can prevent incidents altogether, we save even more – lives, costs, and the environment. That’s a future worth pursuing.”
