Orca AI, also based in London, focuses on autonomous navigation for maritime vessels. They’ve recently launched Co-Captain, a remarkable new software feature with a purpose to improve maritime safety. This innovative new platform puts complementary vessels—vessels that harness intelligence from multiple sensors onboard, for example—in connection with each other. In tandem, they document events across the globe and provide lifesaving information in real-time.
Since launching Co-Captain has already been embedded onto more than 1,200 vessels around the world. The platform uses these data to track a ship’s movements, timing, and route. This data reveals tremendous opportunities to improve not just individual ship performance and safety, but the entire maritime ecosystem. Co-Captain transmits this data to the cloud in real-time. This enables ships to predict how changes in the conditions will impact other vessels in the vicinity and take into account the ship dimensions and designs.
The maritime industry is seeing a dangerous increase in occurrences. In the last couple of years, numerous reports have highlighted a shocking 22 percent rise in these incidents. Co-Captain was created in direct response to this need, making it easier to avoid costly ship collisions and groundings. Yarden Gross, co-founder of Orca AI, highlighted the platform’s contribution to this effort.
“Every ship acts as a node in a larger network, and each node—the vessel itself—has an onboard AI platform.” – Yarden Gross
Plus, Co-Captain interfaces seamlessly with a wide variety of bridge systems. This includes Navigational Telex (NAVTEX) and the Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS). The hub consolidates all the most important alerts and news in one convenient place. It plays nicely with other tools such as radar and the automatic identification system (AIS). This integration allows our systems to instantly share important safety warnings in real-time. It helps vessels stay up to date on GPS jamming, hazardous weather, and congested traffic lanes, while protecting their privacy.
“By anonymizing the data, Co-Captain can share critical safety alerts such as GPS interference, severe weather, or high traffic without ever exposing which vessel reported it or where it came from.” – Yarden Gross
By organizing information from multiple transparent sources, Co-Captain gives vessel operators a fuller view of current conditions. For instance, it can broadcast readings such as a pitch of 3 degrees. In heavy seas, it can register a 5-degree roll. These data-driven insights empower the operators to make data-driven decisions that ultimately improve navigational safety.
Gross compares the ease of use of Co-Captain to an in-car navigation app.
“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
Yarden Gross and Dor Raviv started Orca AI in 2018. Since then, the company has rapidly developed cutting-edge innovations for the maritime industry. Co-Captain is the latest addition to a suite of offerings from the startup, including its first products SeaPod and Fleet View.