Page 20: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (December 2024)

AUTOMATION

THE BRIDGE AND BEYOND

Image courtesy Furuno

AI and AR are revolutionizing decision-making on the bridge and beyond.

By Wendy Laursen t’s already possible to have smart decision support on water, time of day, weather conditions, sunlight intensity, spa- the bridge: With Furuno’s technology, live video im- tial orientation and inclination, among other variables. As a agery of the front view from the vessel has navigation result, to con? dently identify an object, SEA.AI often requires information superimposed on it including heading, AIS input from hundreds of thousands of images. data, radar target tracking, object identi? cation, route Technology company Orca AI has costed out the bene? ts of waypoint and chart information. using digital support to avoid sharp maneuvers and route devia-

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SEA.AI’s bridge support system can identify larger vessels tions. One customer, Seaspan Corp, recorded a 19% reduction in not ? tted with AIS up to a range of 7.5 kilometers (nearly close encounters and a 20% increase in minimum average dis- ? ve miles), smaller vessels up to 3 kilometers (nearly 2 miles) tance from other vessels, leading to an estimated annual fuel sav- away and ? otsam up to 700 meters (nearly half a mile) away. ing of $100,000 per vessel using Orca AI’s navigation assistant.

Augmenting a watchkeeper’s situational awareness with tech- Shipin Systems CEO Osher Perry claims operational results nology can reduce fatigue and help them make better decisions, including a 42% reduction in incidents and a 17% increase in earlier. But it’s not easy to augment the skills of an experienced bridge manning compliance when its AI-based camera system watchkeeper. A lot of effort goes into building the knowledge is placed in core operational areas throughout a vessel. The base that supports the digital interpretation of information. system offers real-time risk detection including early detec-

One of the most common inquiries that SEA.AI receives tion of ? res, an unmanned bridge and improper PPE use by pertains to its system’s capability to detect semi-submerged integrating video data with ship systems including navigation, containers. Detecting a ? oating container is mostly straight- weather and machinery sensors. Some vessels have reported forward due to its larger size compared to buoys, its rigid rect- zero incidents within 180 days of deployment, while im- angular structure and the temperature differential between the proved maintenance and early anomaly detection has reduced container and the surrounding water. However, any object can unplanned off-hire days by 30%.

exhibit signi? cant variation depending on viewing angle, dis- Furuno is using AI to augment its systems which can al- tance, sea conditions, level of submersion, orientation in the ready superimpose a graphical virtual shape over AIS targets 20 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • December 2024

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