Seatrade Maritime is part of the Informa Markets Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

Crowley joins ABS to explore AR & VR technologies

ABS-Crowley.jpg
ABS and Florida-based marine company, Crowley, have entered an agreement to jointly explore how to advance the use of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies for vessels and other marine environments.

Crowley owns and operates a diverse fleet that includes container, roll on/roll off (RoRo), tug, dry cargo, offshore wind development and service operation vessels. The ABS partnership agreement builds on Crowley’s new service network using AR on select vessels.

The crew wears goggle technology to provide real-time visuals of ship equipment to remote technicians to collaborate on solutions. The technology, developed by Kognitiv Spark, allows mariners and shoreside crew to more quickly complete maintenance, updates, and upgrades on board with digital collaboration.

ABS and Crowley will collaborate in a joint pilot project for classification-related survey support activities, such as aspects of annual and special surveys including task crediting. In addition, the project will include a variety of activities involving surveyors, engineers and back-office survey support, virtual walkthroughs and livestreaming using fully remote and hybrid survey techniques.

“AR technology is a field technology, so in collaborating with forward-looking companies like Crowley, we can explore what’s possible for future survey operations as well as for safety in use. ABS class services are leading the industry and finding ways to enrich the data used to both streamline the class process and keep mariners and our surveyors safe,” said Patrick Ryan, ABS senior vice president and chief technology officer.

“Partnership is key to sustainable growth and success in maritime services, and we look forward to working with ABS to advance innovation technology for the benefit of our maritime ecosystem and our customers,” said Cole Cosgrove, vice president, Crowley Shipping. “These innovations will provide mariners a safer and more efficient option and allow us to provide services for our customers  that are even more reliable and effective.”