Prompted by an alarming number of seafarer deaths worldwide, Taiwanese marine transport company Yang Ming is turning to telemedicine. Yang Ming has partnered with Taipei Medical University and National Taiwan Ocean University to build a smart maritime international healthcare system, which includes wearable sensors, an AI chatbot, and satellite-linked telemedicine.

The plan, unveiled recently at Medical Fair Asia 2026 in Singapore, comes at a time when illness–rather than accidents–is the leading cause of death among the roughly two million seafarers working at sea.

Some 66 countries reported 449 seafarer deaths in 2024, of which 245 were health-related, more than the combined total from occupational accidents, persons overboard and suicides, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO). Shipping carries close to 90 percent of world trade, an amount that leaves a large workforce exposed to conditions onboard for months at a stretch. 

Further, cardiovascular conditions accounted for around five percent of medical consultations at sea, but roughly 10 percent of all crew disembarkations, according to a 2024-2026 crew claims report. This makes heart disease the fourth most common reason for removing a seafarer from a vessel, and the single largest driver of both cost and fatalities among illness-related claims.

Yang Ming Chairman Tsai Feng-ming characterized the investment as an operational one rather than a welfare add-on. “Protecting crew health means protecting navigation safety,” he said, adding that the goal was to make “voyages more stable and families more at ease,” Feng-ming said.

The Yang Ming system aims to respond to that pattern through wearable devices that track blood pressure, heart rate, ECG readings and sleep data. The information is then fed into an integrated care portal that shore-based doctors can review before a condition becomes an emergency. An AI chatbot lets crew log symptoms and receive guidance in real time, a telemedicine center at Taipei Medical University connects physicians with vessels wherever they are sailing, and an emotional-support robot addresses the psychological strain of long voyages, an area where onboard care has traditionally been lacking.

“Taipei Medical University, National Taiwan Ocean University, and Yang Ming have joined forces in a cross-disciplinary partnership to build a smart healthcare system,’’ said Taipei Medical University President Wu Mai-Si. “Through an integrated interactive platform, combining wearable devices, health risk assessment, and telemedicine, we monitor seafarers’ physiological data around the clock, while introducing an emotional-support robot to provide psychological support, and combining medical and technological expertise, spanning health tracking and risk monitoring, to build the most secure health safety net for crew members.”

National Taiwan Ocean University president Hsu Tai-wen said the project is as much for training purposes as it is for employment. “Shore-sea integrated health not only optimizes the workplace environment but also safeguards a sustainable future for maritime students,” Tai-wen said.

The project also comes as the IMO works toward a global digitalization strategy for shipping, with a correspondence group reporting to the facilitation committee in 2026 ahead of a planned assembly adoption in 2027. Most of that effort has so far has focused on cargo documentation, port calls, and emissions reporting. Yang Ming said its digital infrastructure project places as much emphasis on the people running the ships as the cargo they carry, treating a seafarer’s vital signs as data worth monitoring continuously, rather than only checking at the next port call or annual medical exam.