University of Nicosia Hosts Symposium on AI-Enhanced Predictive Maintenance for Maritime Systems

The Department of Engineering of the University of Nicosia, in collaboration with SKYLD Security and Defence LTD and the Cyprus Maritime Academy, successfully hosted a high-level symposium on ‘AI-Enhanced Predictive Maintenance for Maritime Systems’ on Friday, 24 April 2026.

The event brought together academics and representatives from industry, technology providers, and maritime professionals to discuss the growing role of artificial intelligence in maritime maintenance, reliability, operational efficiency, and lifecycle optimisation.

The Symposium focused on the outcomes and future potential of the Maritime Health Usage and Monitoring System (MHUMS) project, funded by the Cyprus Research and Innovation Foundation under the CO-DEVELOP programme. MHUMS has developed advanced AI-driven diagnostic and prognostic tools designed to support predictive maintenance, condition-based decision-making, and improved asset management for maritime systems.

The event, moderated by Dr Elias Yfantis, Mechanical Engineering Programme Coordinator at the University of Nicosia, opened with welcome remarks by Dr Stelios Neophytou, Head of the Department of Engineering at the University of Nicosia, Mr Kyriacos Patsalides, Director of Academic Affairs at the Cyprus Maritime Academy, and Mr Aris Phitides, Project Manager of SMART SEA and President of IMarEST Cyprus.

A keynote address entitled ‘Sensor to Shore: Making AI Predictive Maintenance Real at Sea’ was delivered by Mr Michalis Efstratiadis, CTO of OneNet Group, who highlighted the practical challenges and opportunities involved in transferring sensor data into actionable maintenance intelligence for maritime operations.
The technical programme continued with presentations by Dr Petros Savvidis, MHUMS Project Coordinator, who presented the architecture and capabilities of the MHUMS platform under the title ‘AI-Enabled Maritime Health Monitoring: Architecture and Capabilities’, and by Mr Angelos Demetriou, IT Manager at Raytec Digital Ocean Technologies Ltd, who addressed the broader role of AI in the maritime industry. Dr Savvidis also delivered a presentation on ‘Industry 4.0 in Maritime Maintenance’, linking the MHUMS work with wider trends in digitalisation, intelligent systems, and data-driven maintenance.

A panel discussion on ‘Barriers and Opportunities in Deploying AI Maintenance at Scale’ followed, moderated by Dr Elias Yfantis. The panel featured Mr Aris Phitides, Mr Christos Ioannidis, Director of Raytec Digital Ocean Technologies, and Dr Petros Savvidis. The discussion addressed key issues such as data availability and quality, system integration, trust in AI-enabled decision-making, cybersecurity, crew acceptance, regulatory considerations, and the need for stronger collaboration between technology developers, ship operators, academia, and classification bodies.

The Symposium concluded by identifying future steps, including further dissemination of the MHUMS project results, stronger engagement with the maritime industry, and the development of collaborative initiatives in AI-enabled maintenance, digital twins, condition monitoring, and smart maritime systems.

The Department of Engineering of the University of Nicosia remains committed to advancing research, innovation, and education in areas of strategic importance for Cyprus and the wider maritime sector, including artificial intelligence, predictive maintenance, maritime digitalisation, and sustainable engineering systems.