Offline-First
Fully Offline — No Internet Required
Shipwize runs entirely on your vessel's onboard infrastructure. Messaging, voice, video and push notifications all work at sea with no public internet connection.
100% offline capable
Maritime Communication — Reimagined
The Maritime Crew Communication Platform Built for Every Vessel
Offline-first. No Apple or Google ecosystem. AI-powered situational awareness. Shipwize gives your crew the right information, at the right time — on any ship, in any ocean.
TL;DR
Shipwize is a PWA-based maritime crew communication platform that operates fully offline, requires no App Store, replaces legacy PBX systems without new hardware, and provides AI-augmented role-based situational awareness for every incident, alert, and routine operation.
Works on all vessel types
100% offline capable
No vendor lock-in
Runs on existing devices
Why ShipwizeFive Capabilities No Other Maritime
Five Capabilities No Other Maritime
Platform Combines
No competitor combines offline-first operation, autonomous push notifications, AI-augmented communication, open architecture and hardware-free installation — simultaneously.
No App Store
No Apple. No Google. No Lock-In.
Shipwize is a Progressive Web App. No App Store approvals, no FCM/APNs dependency, no ecosystem fees. Push notifications delivered autonomously — on any device.
Autonomous push notifications
Augmented Communication
AI-Augmented Situational Awareness
Every alert automatically surfaces the right context for the right crew member. Role-based, position-aware communication that explains the situation, requests the right action and tracks resolution.
Augmented Communication
No Vendor Lock-In
Open Architecture — Your Infrastructure
Built on open standards: Matrix protocol, SIP, WebRTC. Runs on your own hardware or cloud. No proprietary ecosystems holding your fleet hostage.
Open standards
Legacy Replacement
Replace Legacy Systems — Without New Hardware
Shipwize installs on retrofit and new builds alike. Works on the crew's existing smartphones as a web app. No device procurement, no cabin hardware replacement.
Works on existing devices
Integrations
Integrates With Your Existing Stack
SIP/PBX integration, existing alarm systems, ship management software and fleet management platforms — Shipwize slots into your architecture.
View integrations →Augmented Communication
What is Augmented Communication in Maritime?
📌 Definition
Augmented Communication is a role-based, AI-supported messaging approach that automatically contextualizes alerts and incidents for each crew member based on their position and responsibilities. It reduces information overload, accelerates incident response and ensures every person receives only the actions relevant to them — with full traceability for compliance.
Traditional ship communication pushes the same message to everyone. Augmented Communication is smarter: it understands who is where, what their role is and what action is needed from them specifically. The result is faster incident resolution, less communication noise and complete audit trails.
- Explains each situation in context — not just raw alerts
- Routes actions to the right person by role and position
- Tracks confirmations, actions and resolutions
- Journals every incident automatically for compliance
- Enables real-time collaboration across positions on the vessel
Use Case: Medical Incident on a Cruise Ship
- TRIGGER·Bridge Crew
Sends Alert
Bridge crew creates alert: "Passenger with health issue on Deck 12, Cabin 343." The platform enriches the message with position data, severity level and incident type.
- ROUTE·Deck 12 Crew
Receives Role-Based Notification
The nearest crew member on Deck 12 receives a targeted, actionable push notification — explaining the situation, their requested action and the relevant cabin location.
- ACT·Crew Member
Confirms & Acts
Crew member confirms the request for action. Confirmation is immediately sent to bridge. They consult healthcare specialists onboard via encrypted in-app voice/video call.
- COLLABORATE·Healthcare Specialist
Collaborative Resolution
Specialized healthcare crew joins the response remotely. All communication is captured in a structured thread — participants, timestamps, actions taken.
- RESOLVE·All Parties
Incident Resolved & Journaled
Crew member marks incident "Resolved". The entire communication chain is automatically logged in the communication journal — tagged as <alert> <healthcare>. Full IMO-compliance traceability.
Solutions
Built for Every Vessel Type
Whether you operate cruise ships, cargo vessels, ferries, offshore rigs or river cruise fleets — Shipwize is designed to fit your operational context.
Cruise Ships
Large & Boutique
From mega cruise liners to boutique expedition vessels — Shipwize scales to any fleet size. Guest-incident management, crew coordination and private channel communications in one platform.
- passenger incident management
- crew coordination
- onboard messaging
Cargo & Tanker
Freight Vessels
Streamline operations communication for cargo and tanker fleets. Works in remote ocean areas with zero internet connectivity. Integrates with existing watch-keeping workflows.
- offline cargo communication
- watch-keeping messaging
- tanker crew app
Ferries
Passenger Ferries
Fast boarding communications, emergency alert distribution and crew assignment notifications for high-frequency passenger ferry operations.
- ferry crew communication
- passenger alert system
- emergency messaging
Offshore
Rigs & Platforms
Safety-critical communication for offshore rigs and platforms. Role-based emergency alerting, muster management and contractor communication — fully offline in remote locations.
- offshore communication platform
- rig safety alerts
- maritime incident management
River Cruise
Inland Vessels
Lightweight deployment for river cruise vessels operating in areas with varying connectivity. Same suite of features, optimized for smaller crew sizes.
- river cruise communication
- inland vessel messaging
Maritime ISVs
Software Partners
Integrate Shipwize's communication layer into your existing maritime platform via REST API. Add secure messaging, voice/video and push notifications to your product without building your own stack.
- maritime communication API
- crew messaging API integration
- ship communication SDK
Comparison
Shipwize vs. WhatsApp, Legacy PBX & Custom Builds
No other solution combines all the capabilities maritime operations require in a single, open, offline-first platform.
| Feature | Shipwize | WhatsApp / Teams | Legacy PBX | Custom Build |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fully offline (no internet required) | Partial | Varies | ||
| No Apple/Google ecosystem dependency | Partial | Varies | ||
| Augmented Communication (AI-augmented, role-based) | ||||
| Incident journal & compliance traceability | Partial | Varies | ||
| SIP / PBX integration | Varies | |||
| No new hardware required | Varies | |||
| No vendor lock-in (open standards) | ||||
| Progressive Web App (no App Store) | Rarely | |||
| IMO-compliant communication log | Partial | Varies | ||
| High-availability clustering | Varies |
Feature assessment based on publicly available product documentation. April 2026.
Integrations
Integrates With Your Existing Maritime Stack
Shipwize is designed to complement and connect with your current infrastructure — not replace everything at once.
SIP / PBX
Integrates with any existing SIP infrastructure — FreeSWITCH, Asterisk and other PBX systems. Preserve your telephony investment while adding modern messaging and push.
Alarm Systems
Connect onboard alarm and alert systems to route incident notifications through Shipwize's Augmented Communication engine for role-based delivery.
Ship Management Software
REST API integration with fleet management and ship management software stacks. Two-way data flow for incident logging and crew assignment.
REST API
Full-featured API for maritime software vendors (ISVs). Add messaging, push notifications and voice/video to your platform without building the infrastructure.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about maritime crew communication, Augmented Communication and the Shipwize platform.
Yes. Shipwize operates fully offline using the vessel's onboard Wi-Fi network and a local server installation. No public internet connection is required for messaging, voice calls, video, push notifications or incident alerting — making it reliable in remote ocean areas with no satellite connectivity.
Augmented Communication is a role-based, AI-supported messaging approach that automatically contextualizes alerts and incidents for each crew member based on their position and responsibilities. Instead of broadcasting the same message to everyone, Shipwize delivers situation-specific, actionable notifications to the right person — and tracks the resolution.
Technically yes, but it is strongly inadvisable. WhatsApp requires a public internet connection, depends on Google/Apple push infrastructure, provides no role-based alerting, offers no incident journal for IMO compliance and does not support SIP/PBX integration. It is not designed for maritime operational requirements.
The best crew communication platform for ships is one that works offline, requires no App Store installation, integrates with SIP/PBX infrastructure, provides role-based alert routing and logs all incidents for compliance. Shipwize is designed to meet all of these requirements simultaneously.
Shipwize replaces legacy shipboard communication systems without requiring new hardware procurement. Crew members use their existing smartphones to access the PWA (Progressive Web App). Shipwize integrates with existing SIP/PBX infrastructure — so voice extensions continue to work during the migration. Deployment covers new builds and retrofits.
Shipwize uses an autonomous push notification system based on matrix protocol and a self-hosted Sygnal gateway — completely independent from Google FCM (Firebase Cloud Messaging) or Apple APNs. Notifications are delivered directly over the vessel's onboard network.
Yes. Shipwize is designed for cruise ships (large and boutique), cargo and tanker vessels, ferries, offshore rigs and platforms, river cruise ships and inland vessels. The platform scales from small crews to large multi-ship fleets.
Shipwize is built on open standards: the Matrix protocol for messaging, SIP for voice integration, WebRTC for real-time voice and video, and a standard REST API for third-party integrations. This prevents vendor lock-in and ensures long-term maintainability.
Request a Demo
See Augmented Ship Communication in Action
We'll walk you through a live Shipwize demo tailored to your vessel type and operational context. No commitment, no sales pressure.
- 30-minute technical walkthrough
- Tailored to your fleet segment and IT environment
- Covers offline operation, Augmented Communication and SIP integration
- Answer all your technical and commercial questions
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