If you thought autonomous driving was only for cars, think again. The market for “autonomous navigation”, in which ships steer themselves using artificial intelligence to avoid wasting fuel and time, is expected to grow with $4.46 billion in 2023 to $5.33 billion only in 2024
Orca AI is a London-based startup that claims power the world’s first autonomous cruise on a merchant ship in crowded waters. Now it has added $23 million in latest financing led by OCV Partners and MizMaa Ventures. The funding, which we’re told falls between Series A and Series B, is nearly $40 million.
The startup was founded in late 2018 and brought its AI-powered navigation technology to market in 2021, having also raised $13 million in Series A funding. The latest injection of funding might be used for scaling and development, she told TechCrunch, and invest in creating latest products – based on data that the platform collects from customers. There are also plans to expand the engineering team.
Founded by Israeli maritime technology experts Yarden Gross and Dor Raviv, Orca AI processes multiple sources of visual information while navigating at sea, keeping the ship on course and allowing the crew to watch other facets of the voyage, reminiscent of drone attacks and piracy, which are increasingly occurring more unstable geopolitical times.
Quoting the results from A Trial 2023Orca claims its system is so accurate that it was capable of reduce “close encounters in open water” by 33% and “crossing events” by 40% over a distance of 15 million nautical miles. (For some context, in line with the European Maritime Safety Agency, there have been over 2,500 significant maritime incidents in 2022 report.)
It also claims that the system may end up in fuel savings of $100,000 to $300,000 per 12 months per vessel (reducing fuel consumption by 3-5%). Additionally, Orca’s AI suggests that its technology has achieved CO2 last 12 months a reduction of 72,716 tonnes per 1,000 vessels.
Shipping is under pressure to cut back its carbon footprint, which creates opportunities for entrepreneurs to digitize the industry and apply technologies reminiscent of artificial intelligence to extend efficiency.
Difficult and dangerous working conditions for seafarers, combined with the growing range of threats affecting global shipping lanes, are also putting pressure on the industry, which can result in increasing workforce automation.
In a call with TechCrunch, Gross, CEO and co-founder of Orca AI, said: “When we talk about ocean-going ships, in the near future we’ll see ships sailing without crew. Meanwhile, you possibly can optimize and automate many parts of your cruise, reducing your workload while also reducing the number of individuals. You can optimize your fuel consumption emissions [and] ETA [estimated time of arrival] and completely increase safety. So that is what we’re building. We are building a platform that supports the ship itself.
Gross said the Orca platform uploads all data to the cloud, providing fleet managers with tools and monitoring capabilities. “This means they can service not just one ship, but an entire fleet. So you can think of it as an operating platform for a semi-autonomous fleet.”
Commenting in a follow-up statement, Hemi Zucker, Managing Partner at OCV, added: “Maritime transport is the lifeblood of international trade and the global economy. More than 80% of international goods trade volume is carried by sea, and by some estimates it is a market worth $2 trillion. While planes, trains and cars have seen tremendous progress and investment in autopilot and collision avoidance, we believe the shipping industry is still up for grabs and autonomous ships represent the defining category of opportunity – ships that are the captain themselves.”
Orca AI works with global shipping firms including MSC, NYK, Maersk and Seaspan.
Other firms involved in autonomous navigation at sea include: In Avikus (a subsidiary of Hyundai HD) i Marine machinery.