Orca AI, the situational awareness solution provider for the commercial shipping industry, today announced that it has entered into a worldwide distribution deal with Marubeni, one of Japan’s biggest import and export companies and a comprehensive provider of ship services, according to the company's release.
The Japanese conglomerate will also install the Orca AI platform on its vessels, providing use-case insights that the Israeli company can leverage to further enhance the technology.
Orca AI’s SeaPod™ lookout unit acts as a fully automatic digital watchkeeper, powered by high-sensitivity computer vision and deep-learning algorithms that detect, track, and classify nearby targets that could potentially pose a risk to the vessel. It helps to enhance situational awareness for bridge crews during challenging navigational scenarios such as congested waterways and low-visibility conditions.
Orca AI’s technology, which is operational 24/7, prioritizes risks at sea and presents them via a user-friendly interface onboard. The platform provides real-time monitoring capabilities to the fleet operations teams and actionable insights to improve safety, operations efficiency and performance.
To date, Orca AI has accumulated more than 20 million nautical miles-worth of marine visual data from its customers, including NYK, Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC), and Maran Group.
This is not the first time that Orca AI has worked together with an industry-leading Japanese partner. In 2022, Orca AI and NYK Group completed a successful autonomous voyage trial in congested waters off Japan’s east coast through the Designing the Future of Full Autonomous Ships (DFFAS) consortium, which includes 30 Japanese firms.
Founded in 2018, Orca AI is the creator of the world’s first-of-its-kind automated situational awareness platform to maximize voyage safety and operational efficiency for ships and fleets.
Powered by maritime purpose-built AI and computer vision technologies, the Orca AI platform empowers crew to make data-driven decisions in congested waters and in low visibility conditions. Additionally, it allows fleet managers and operators to have a better understanding of their fleets’ performance and identify unsafe or risky and inefficient behaviors easily.
In 2022, Orca AI empowered the world's first commercial autonomous voyage in partnership with Designing the Future of Full Autonomous Ships (DFFAS) and The Nippon Foundation.
Orca AI’s solution is already utilized by leading shipping companies worldwide, including SeaSpan, NYK, and MSC.
Marubeni Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries use their broad business networks, both within Japan and overseas, to conduct importing and exporting (including third country trading), as well as domestic business, encompassing a diverse range of business activities across wide-ranging fields including lifestyle, IT solutions, food, agri-business, forest products, chemicals, metals & mineral resources, energy, power, infrastructure project, aerospace & ship, finance, leasing & real estate business, construction, industrial machinery & mobility, next generation business development and next generation corporate development. Additionally, the Marubeni Group offers a variety of services, makes internal and external investments, and is involved in resource development throughout all of the above industries.