Orca AI partners with NorthStandard to offer safety benefits of situational awareness platform

NorthStandard and Orca AI have entered an exclusive partnership that will see the global marine insurer encourage adoption by members of Orca AI’s market-leading automated situational awareness solution.

Orca AI’s situational awareness platform is designed to ensure vessels safely navigate in challenging weather conditions and congested waters by allowing shipowners and operators to identify safety gaps and trends that require action.

The partnership will include the AI-based solution among NorthStandard’s new Get SET! suite of innovative resources and practical risk-reduction tools to protect members, their crews and assets. As part of the Get SET! commitment to delivering exceptional service, NorthStandard will also incentivise members to adopt the Orca AI solution by subsidising their investments.

“Having seen how Orca AI supports the bridge team by improving their situational awareness we are confident that it reduces the number of close quarters situations. By extension this must reduce the number of collisions, so it was an easy decision to partner with them to support NorthStandard members in enhancing the safety of their operations,” said NorthStandard Global Head of Loss Prevention Colin Gillespie.

NorthStandard envisages members making significant savings as a result of using Orca AI’s advanced solution, with reduced bridge workload driving safer decisions and fewer human errors.

“The Orca AI platform is already used by leading shipping companies worldwide and we believe it will quickly deliver safety and operational benefits to those of our members who choose to deploy it,” Gillespie added.

Spearheading the digital revolution

Orca AI CEO and Co-founder Yarden Gross said: “We’re thrilled to be part of this first-of- its-kind collaboration with NorthStandard. The widespread availability of advanced satellite connectivity has ushered in a new era of AI-driven technologies that connect ships to shore and opened up exciting possibilities for data-driven decision-making and enhanced operational transparency.”

By continuously monitoring the maritime environment and providing real-time data and insights, the Orca AI platform equips crew members with the knowledge and skills to confidently navigate challenging marine settings. Increased awareness enables quicker and more informed decision-making, reducing the likelihood of accidents or delays and ensuring a safer voyage.

By detecting and alerting crew to high-risk marine targets, ships can avoid unnecessary manoeuvres and speed drops, reducing fuel burn and emissions. AI helps the platform to optimize operations, thereby reducing costs and minimizing environmental impacts.

A recent analysis conducted by Orca AI showed that in 2023, 267 customer vessels reported a 26% improvement in average minimum distance sailed, and the fleet as a whole saw an overall 33% reduction in close encounters in open waters and a 40% decline in crossing events.

“We possess the world’s largest maritime visual dataset, comprising four years of data from more than 250 vessels, totalling 20 million nautical miles or 200 years of global sailing. This data is synchronized with inputs from GPS, Radar, AIS, depth, wind, rudder, and gyrocompass sensors to secure optimal accuracy,” commented Gross.

Holistic configuration

The Orca AI platform features two operational modules, the SeaPod automated navigational assistant and the FleetView application for shore offices.

SeaPod acts as a digital watchkeeper. Leveraging AI and computer vision technology, It processes multiple sources of information to detect, track and classify targets at sea, flagging potential risks to the vessel and providing real-time alerts and predictive insights to the crew.

FleetView enables fleet managers ashore to monitor and improve operational metrics, such as the number of near-miss and close-encounter events, sharp turns and sudden drops in speed under various COLREG situations.

Orca AI’s system has been granted the world’s first Product Design Assessment (PDA) certificate from class society ABS for an AI-based navigation safety platform.

The Get SET! portfolio of navigational safety products was launched in January this year with the unrolling of the NorthStandard ‘ECDIS Training Assessment’ (ETA) platform.