Fathom Familiarisation System
Close the familiarisation gap.
Prove your crew is ready.
Fathom is the smart familiarisation platform that transforms your vessel’s safety manuals from static documents into a living, verifiable system of crew competence. Replace assumption with accountability.
“The FATHOM app is revolutionising how superyacht crew manage and understand onboard safety.” — Superyacht Content (crew training feature)
The risk of the familiarisation gap
Even on the most well-run yachts, traditional familiarisation has a critical flaw: a lack of visibility. Manuals are read, drills are logged, and audits are passed, yet genuine crew knowledge is difficult to measure and often overestimated.
This “Familiarisation Gap” – the difference between ticking a box and true competence – creates hidden risks that often only surface during a real incident or a high-pressure inspection. How do you prove your crew is ready for any day, not just survey day?
Our solution: Fathom – A dynamic system of readiness
Fathom is an innovative digital platform that makes crew knowledge visible and measurable. It integrates structured, weekly assessments with your vessel-specific content to ensure that safety and technical procedures are not just available—but actively used, understood, and retained.
It’s a system that fosters a powerful culture of continuous learning and readiness on board.
How FATHOM delivers verifiable competence
Based on your vessel’s reality: Fathom is custom-built from your own documentation. Your Safety Management System (SMS), SOLAS manuals, General Arrangement plans, and SOPs. This ensures all assessments are 100% relevant to your crew and the specific realities of your vessel.
Smart, location-based verification: We use NFC tag technology to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Physical tags are placed on critical safety equipment (like firefighting gear, life rafts, or medical kits). To answer questions about this equipment, crew must physically locate and scan the tag, providing undeniable proof they know where to go in an emergency.
Data-driven insights through the command dashboard: The senior crew dashboard provides a real-time overview of performance data. It instantly identifies knowledge gaps by individual, department, or topic, allowing you to stop guessing and start planning drills and training with surgical precision.
A system of continuous improvement: Fathom replaces the “cram-and-forget” model of training with a scientifically-proven method. Short, manageable weekly assessments based on “spaced repetition” make learning highly effective and ensure critical safety knowledge is retained long-term, embedding it into the crew’s routine without overwhelming their schedule.
The tangible outcomes for your vessel
Achieve data-driven compliance
- Scientific learning method: By using a proven “spaced repetition” learning technique, Fathom ensures critical safety information is retained long-term, not just memorised for a test.
- Auditable proof: Fathom provides the continuous, time-stamped record of crew knowledge needed to satisfy ISM 1.2.2.3 and demonstrate true due diligence to owners, auditors, and insurers.
- Targeted training: Use the Fathom dashboard to pinpoint weaknesses and make your training more efficient, effective, and impactful.
Enhance onboard safety and culture
- Increased Emergency Preparedness: Ensure every crew member—from new joiners to veterans—can instantly recall procedures and locate critical equipment under pressure.
- Proactive Human Error Reduction: Continuous engagement with safety material keeps knowledge fresh, significantly reducing the risk of costly mistakes and incidents.
- Raise the Safety Culture: Weekly testing makes safety an ongoing conversation. With concepts like #FathomFriday, it becomes a regular, positive part of the onboard routine.
Improve operational efficiency
- Accelerate Onboarding: Fathom provides a structured, digital path for new crew to get up to speed quickly, reducing the time strain on senior crew.
- Document Accuracy: When multiple crew members answer a question incorrectly, it can highlight a discrepancy between a manual and reality, creating an opportunity to audit and improve your documentation.
- Improve Crew Retention: A vessel that invests in its crew’s safety and competence is a vessel where crew want to stay, reducing turnover and preserving valuable operational knowledge.
“This is astonishing. The results speak for themselves and focus the company on where they need to apply their attention. It’s excellent.”
— Designated Person Ashore (DPA), reacting to a yacht’s Fathom monthly safety report
BOOK A DEMO
See the future of familiarisation
Fathom is more than a tool; it is a fundamental shift in how onboard safety is managed. It empowers you to go beyond minimum compliance, building a crew that is knowledgeable, confident, and genuinely prepared.