Two years after it introduced a navigation system using
augmented reality (AR) technology to enhance navigational awareness, Japan’s
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines announced upgrades to the capabilities as it also explores
expanding the deployment of the technology more broadly across its fleet. The
enhancements to the technology help navigators avoid dangerous shallow areas.
First installed in March 2018 aboard MOL’s new car carrier,
Beluga Ace, the system jointly developed with Furuno Electric Co. displays
information on other vessels sailing on a planned route and surrounding sea
areas. The project partners' goal was to support crewmembers, alerting them to
other vessels they need to watch, the location of shallow waters, and other
potential hazards, by displaying integrated real-time video images with
information from nautical instruments on screens on the bridge.
The system integrates information from the Automatic
Identification System (AIS) and radar with real-time video images from the
bridge camera in collaboration with Furuno Electric's Electric Chart Display
and Information System (ECDIS). It provides visual support to crewmembers
during their watch-keeping and ship operations by using AR technology to
superimposing real-time video imagery and voyage information, displaying ocean
conditions on the screens.
The current upgrade to the AR navigation system now enables
it to automatically display borders between deep-sea areas where vessels can
navigate safely and shallower areas that may pose risks. The previous system
required a manual setting to display shallow areas, but this upgrade allows for
automatic full-time display using a safety contour in red, yellow, or orange,
supporting the navigators’ situation awareness visually.
MOL began demonstration testing of the system in October
2018 aboard the first of its VLCCs, Suzukasan, seeking to refine the AR display
screen and verify the system's effectiveness. The initial focus was on the VLCC
fleet, a vessel type MOL notes that requires the highest level of operating
safety Due to its deep draft, VLCC operations require special care when
navigating on the waters such as the Straits of Singapore and Malacca, a
heavily trafficked sea lane that has limited areas.
The AR navigation system has so far been installed on 24
MOL-operated very large crude carriers. MOL plans to expand the installation of
the system to more vessels in the future and is proceeding with trials on ships
in its energy transport fleet including LNG carriers, as well as dry bulkers.