Japanese shipping major Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) is trialling a prototype of the Automatic Ship Target Recognition System developed in Israel by Orca AI, the latest development in Japan’s autonomous shipping drive.
The Israeli system can automatically recognise dangerous targets and other vessels that may be overlooked by the human eye, especially at night, in stormy conditions or in congested waters.
Orca AI uses a camera unit that can shoot day and night to automatically recognise ships and targets and measure the distance to them. Information obtained from navigational equipment, including vessel names, distance, and time when the ship is closest to the target, can be superimposed and displayed in an integrated manner to a tablet or touch-panel monitor display.
The system can independently recognise small fishing boats and small markers that are not captured by radar and not equipped with AIS.
