Orca AI, a groundbreaking autonomous maritime navigation company located in the UK capital, was established in 2018 by Yarden Gross and Dor Raviv. They’ve recently introduced a new cutting-edge software feature—Co-Captain. This trailblazing system is designed to improve maritime safety by preventing accidents at sea through proactive and real-time data collection and analysis. With Co-Captain, Orca AI is establishing a new paradigm for vessel navigation and operation in an interconnected global network.
It operates as a network of vessels equipped with Orca AI technology, capturing events worldwide and sharing insights among ships. This system collects data from other sensors onboard, sending it to the cloud for analysis. By using this knowledge, Co-Captains helps to enhance ship performance and safety on board ships around the world.
Co-Captain’s usefulness goes beyond just helping them collect this data. It uses machine learning to forecast the impact of weather and traffic on adjacent vessels. It recalibrates data to account for the size and design of each ship. This proactive and evidence-based approach not only saves precious time in making decisions, but it is key to avoiding maritime tragedies.
Today, Co-Captain is already in practical use on more than 1,200 vessels, a further testament to its effectiveness and rapidly increasing acceptance within the maritime industry. Orca AI’s passion is to make Co-Captain smarter. To meet this goal, they are currently working to fully integrate it with other bridge systems such as Navigational Telex (NAVTEX) and Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS).
The software centralizes all relevant alerts and updates, allowing ship officers to save time and effort pursuing paperwork. By simplifying a complicated decision-making process, Co-Captain empowers officers with information that assists them in making hard decisions in dynamic situations.
“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.
Co-Captain also focuses on privacy and safety. The system anonymizes the data it collects. This enables it to disseminate essential safety notifications, such as GPS jamming, extreme weather, or heavy congestion, while preserving the anonymity of the reporting vessel and the data source. This beneficial feature adds to the public’s safety while keeping individual ship identities private.
“Every ship acts as a node in a larger network, and each node—the vessel itself—has an onboard AI platform,” – Yarden Gross.
The longer Orca AI works on its technology, the more the potential for Co-Captain to revolutionize maritime operations reveals itself. That combination of advanced data analytics combined with real-time situational awareness to proactively address hazards is set to raise the bar on safety across the industry.