A master mariner from Split builds AI to keep the watch on the bridge alert
Hrvoje Mihovilović spent years at sea. His startup ELNAV.AI helps bridge teams stay engaged while more of the job becomes supervising automation.
On a ship's bridge, the hardest moments are often the quiet ones: a steady course on autopilot, repeated checks, and paperwork slowly competing for attention. The officer on watch is still responsible when traffic or conditions change. Hrvoje Mihovilović knows that situation from the inside, and his startup ELNAV.AI, from Split in Croatia, is building technology for it.
From the stars to the screen
Mihovilović chose nautical school over architecture, drawn by adventure and responsibility. He went to sea at a time when a morning position worked out from the stars could still be trusted more than the new GPS receiver, and later watched satellite communications and electronic charts transform the bridge. Today he is a master mariner and the founder and CEO of ELNAV.AI.
As more of the job becomes supervising automation, he says, the real question is how to keep professional watchkeeping alive as the bridge changes around it.
What Aware Mate does
Ships measure their machinery, position and alarms in great detail. Whether the human watch is still actively engaged is much less visible. Aware Mate is designed to close that gap for bridge teams on commercial ships and inland vessels.
A camera and an onboard processor look for sustained, observable signs such as prolonged eye closure, a head drop or a gaze directed away from the agreed watch area, and give a local prompt. Processing runs on the vessel, there is no identity or emotion recognition, and by default no raw video is sent ashore. Crew trust is central: the bridge team should understand what the system observes, what shore can see and how to report an alert that was not helpful.
Helm Order Monitor
A second product answers another practical question on the bridge: was the spoken steering order carried out correctly? Helm Order Monitor compares the order with the rudder feedback and flags execution that is wrong or delayed.
Who is behind it, and what is next
Mihovilović founded ELNAV in Split in 2021. Kristijan Knežević is CTO and Dr Ivan Biliškov leads AI development. In December 2025, Aware Mate completed a 72-hour operational trial on a passenger ferry, running the full chain from camera input to onboard analysis, local prompts and logging. In October 2026 ELNAV was selected for the PortXL accelerator in Rotterdam.
Next come more vessel and simulator evaluations, looking at whether prompts help the watch, how much nuisance they add and how crews experience the system. The team is also working on relating attention indicators to the navigation situation, so future prompts can take better account of what is happening around the vessel.
Quick facts
- Based in: Split, Croatia
- What: Aware Mate (watchkeeping support) and Helm Order Monitor, for commercial ships and inland vessels
- Founder: Hrvoje Mihovilović, master mariner, CEO
- Team: Kristijan Knežević (CTO), Dr Ivan Biliškov (AI development)
- Milestones: 72-hour ferry trial (December 2025), PortXL accelerator Rotterdam (October 2026)
- Website: elnav.ai
Sources: ELNAV.AI's answers to Meet New Brands (October 2026). The text was checked by ELNAV.AI.
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