Artificial intelligence could one day organize the world. As if in anticipation of this, a maritime platform developer called Orca AI has just begun a research trial of new safety systems for autonomous ships, equipping a vessel with artificial intelligence that recognizes other ships to safely guide it through busy sea traffic, according to a recent press release from the company. Orca AI was founded in 2018 by a pair of naval tech experts, and designs software platforms with extreme specificity for maritime vessels. The firm blends existing safety systems with sensors to enhance the navigation and safety of vessels making their way through crowded (and sometimes dangerous) waterways. Orca AI is headquartered in Israel, and aims to link sea-bound vessels with 24/7 land-based AI insights.

Deep learning is on the frontline in a new age of piracy, outwitting attacks with pre-emptive tech, explains Yarden Gross, CEO and co-founder of Orca AI. Almost a decade has passed since piracy raged off Somalia, and yet the danger posed by maritime hijackings is as present as ever. The global pandemic last year sparked a resurgence of attacks, with piracy incidents doubling across Asia, in a worrying uptick also seen in the Gulf of Mexico and West Africa. The fallout from coronavirus, including the loss of key security personnel, turned quarantined vessels into easy targets. This wave has since receded a little, with the International Maritime Bureau reporting a 44 per cent YoY dip in piracy and armed robbery incidents in 2021.

Efforts are continuing to explore the use of automation, artificial intelligence, and image recognition to improve the navigation and safety of ship operations. Earlier this year, Japan's Mitsui O.S.K. Lines demonstrated its efforts are using augmented reality (AR) technology to enhance navigational awareness and now NYK announced that it has begun a trial on the system that can monitor the horizon to recognize dangerous objects that might be within a ship's range. NYK working with its strategic research and development subsidiary MTI Co. installed the Automatic Ship Target recognition System developed in Israel by Orca AI on one of NYK's vessels. The goal is to verify the detection capability and the contribution the system can make to the role of the lookout on a ship's bridge. Working with Orca, NYK also plans to improve the target detection algorithm through the use of data collection and machine learning on the Israeli company's servers.