P&I Club to incentivise members adopting situational awareness tech

The situational awareness system enables rapid and improved decision-making in poor weather conditions, limited visibility, or congested waters. 

The AI-based system will now become part of NorthStandard’s new Get SET portfolio of digital resources and risk-reduction tools designed for Club members, ships’ crews, and assets. As part of the Get SET programme, NorthStandard will incentivise members to adopt the Orca AI platform by subsidising their investments.

Colin Gillespie, NorthStandard Global Head of Loss Prevention, commented: “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.”

Speaking for Orca AI, Chief Executive 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 open up exciting new possibilities for data-driven decision-making and enhanced operational transparency.”

Related:Bridge personnel vote ‘yes’ to digital watch-keeping system

Speaking to Seatrade Maritime News in January, Gross described today’s bridge look-out technology as ‘outdated’. “We want ships to be able to sail from Point A to Point B in the most efficient and sustainable way that is possible,” he declared. “This means that we need to start automating and optimising parts of the workload. One of these is watch-keeping.”

At that time, he revealed that the company had installed about 250 systems on board ships belonging to owners including Maran Tankers, MSC, NYK, and Seaspan. About 40 more were being installed each month, he said, and the company had a forward book of about 700 systems. 

Installed on the monkey island, the SeaPod consists of eight high-precision cameras providing a 225° field-of-view coverage. The system also has forward-looking infrared thermographic imaging devices through 100°.