Orca AI, a London-headquartered company that creates autonomous maritime navigation technology, has today announced the launch of an industry first software feature called Co-Captain. This creative new approach seeks to significantly reduce maritime accidents. These incidents have exploded by 22 percent in recent years, mainly from aging vessels and equipment failures. Co-Captain’s goal is to provide a safer and more effective means of moving ships around the world by utilizing real-time data collected from a ship’s onboard sensors.
Yarden Gross and Dor Raviv started Orca AI in 2018. Since then, the company, paired with the success of Sea Machines, has quickly gained recognition as a leader in maritime technology. The launch of Co-Captain represents an important step forward in the company’s goal of making our oceans and waterways a safer place. With its ability to collect and analyze data from various sensors aboard vessels, Co-Captain provides critical insights that can anticipate how current conditions will impact nearby ships.
Co-Captain works by collating data inputs across a variety of sensors in real-time, streaming this information to the cloud for advanced processing. This data-driven approach allows vessels to receive timely alerts regarding potential hazards such as GPS interference, severe weather conditions, or increased traffic. Co-Captain anonymizes all of the data that volunteers collect. In this manner, important safety notifications can be circulated without disclosing the name or position of the reporting ship.
“Every ship acts as a node in a larger network, and each node—the vessel itself—has an onboard AI platform. This platform collects data from multiple sensors in real time,” – Yarden Gross.
Within its larger ecosystem of operations, Co-Captain gives vessels the ability to connect and coordinate with one another to avoid risks and improve safety. The platform is already improving navigation capabilities on more than 1,200 vessels worldwide. Co-Captain develops its technology with Orca AI technology to develop a deep network of ships powered by a cutting edge network. It functions akin to a navigation app for drivers—informing users of challenges and roadblocks ahead to proactively reroute them.
“Co-Captain is a network of vessels using Orca to capture events worldwide and share insights. Think of it like the navigation app you use in your car: it tells you about traffic or roadblocks in advance so you can adjust your route,” – Yarden Gross.
Orca AI is working to integrate Co-Captain with other bridge systems to centralize relevant alerts and updates. This synthesis will be instrumental in improving interactions between operating crew. It makes certain that all mariners are kept up-to-date regarding possible dangers while on the water.
Overwhelmingly, our maritime industry is not only suffering…but it’s hurting while trying to navigate through a growing storm of crisis.
Findings
The rapid increase in maritime accidents has been associated with many factors, such as the age of the vessels and mechanical failure. Through applying cutting-edge technologies such as Co-Captain, those maritime organizations want to change this trend and make maritime operations safer.