HEALTHY SAILING (HS) is a 36-month (September 2022 – August 2025) Horizon Research and Innovation Action whose consortium represents 24 members from 12 countries.

During the first year of the Healthy Sailing project implementation a great focus was given to the completion of the HEALTHY SAILING Foundation Report which was delivered in November 2023 and will inform the work of other HEALTHY SAILING activities, including the development of evidence-informed guidelines and training materials for travellers, modelling studies and decision-making using machine learning/artificial intelligence. The Foundation Report consists of five overarching components, each addressing a specific aspect.

• A systematic review and epidemiological studies were completed for PART A (led by UTH-EL) generating evidence for mechanisms facilitating infection spread and mitigation measures.
• Results from the scoping search and systematic review were analysed for PART B (led by UKE-DE) to understand capacities and interactions of passenger ships and land-based operations.
• Systematic reviews have been conducted and a “Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP)” survey has been prepared for PART C (led by UGOT-SE) to understand behavioural, social and cultural aspects affecting infectious disease spread among passengers and crew.
• Collaborations with HEALTHY SAILING partners and participating ship operators were organised for PART D (led by UTH-EL) to identify the IT requirements for interoperability of project outputs with existing ship operation systems.
• Finally, for PART E (led by NTUA-EL) a report for compatibility and interoperability of project outputs within existing marine operations onboard large passenger ships has been prepared.

During the preparation of the foundation report, seven focus groups were conducted onboard the cruise ships Celestyal Journey and MSC Musica by researchers from University of Thessaly (Greece) and University of Gothenburg (Sweden). The discussions provided insight into preferred strategies to improve compliance with measures like handwashing, early symptom reporting, the isolation and quarantine among travellers.

In parallel as part of HEALTHY SAILING Task 3.4 (led by University of Greenwich, with GCARE – University of Surrey and VTT) an extensive experimental trial was conducted on the MSC Virtuosa during a cruise voyage departing Southampton on 12 August 2023 for 12 days. Experimental data onboard were collected by using aerosol and CO2 sensors lead by the GCARE team, University of Surrey, to build a set of validation data for improving and tuning computational modelling of infection risk in those spaces.  This work will also be the foundation of future activities.

To support operational activities the consortium developed the Interim version of evidence-based guidelines for prevention, mitigation and management of COVID-19 on board large passenger vessels. The purpose of the guidelines is to reduce the incidence of COVID-19 on board passenger ships, to provide information to passenger ships and port health authorities for the proper prevention, mitigation and management of COVID-19 cases on board and ashore, and to provide general guidance for public health emergency preparedness. The HEALTHY SAILING project is currently working to define specificities for large passenger ferries, which will be included in the final version of this document.

Moreover, a toolkit for systematic monitoring of surface cleaning and disinfection was delivered so as to develop solutions to prevent mitigate and manage infectious disease in the ship environment.

Finally, Healthy Sailing is establishing an International Scientific Panel (ISP) for Infectious Diseases related to Passenger Ships with the purpose to provide strategic perspectives and global experience to complement the scientific expertise and activities of the HEALTHY SAILING research and innovation action.