Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has announced its intention to install a navigation system using augmented reality (AR) technology, jointly developed by Furuno Electric Co. and MOL Techno-Trade, on 21 MOL Group-operated very large crude oil carriers (VLCCs).
The system displays information on other vessels sailing on a vessel’s planned route and surrounding sea areas and other ocean conditions, such as shallow waters, on tablets and screens. It 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 cutting-edge Electric Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) FMD3300 series. The system provides visual support to crew members during their watchkeeping and ship operations by using AR technology to superimposing real-time video imagery and voyage information.
The system has been installed on MOL’s next-generation FLEXIE Series car carrier, Beluga Ace, which was delivered in March 2018, and the VLCC Suzukasan, delivered in October 2018, for demonstration tests. MOL has continued to refine the AR display screen and verify the system’s effectiveness. In officially commercialising the system under the Furuno Electric brand, it will be installed on MOL’s VLCC fleet, a vessel type that requires the highest level of operating safety, with the goal of achieving an even greater margin of safety. Due to its deep draught, VLCC operations require special care when navigating waters such as the Straits of Singapore and Malacca, a heavily trafficked sea lane that has limited areas. The project partners developed the system to support crew members, alerting them to other vessels they need to watch, the location of shallow waters, and so on, by displaying integrated real-time video images with information from nautical instruments on screens on the bridge even in congested sea lanes. The system will further enhance MOL’s marine technical skills, moving the company toward its objective of becoming “the world leader in safe operation”, stressed a release.
MOL will sequentially install the system in its energy transport fleet, including LNG carriers, as well as its dry bulkers to provide seafarers with greater support in watchkeeping and ship operation during voyages. In addition, MOL expects this technology to play a key role in realising autonomous ships in the future.
MOL has moved ahead with advanced support of safe operation and reduction of its environmental impact, as set out in the “ISHIN NEXT – MOL SMART SHIP PROJECT -,” which began in November 2016, and aims to become customers’ first choice as a logistics partner by applying ICT technology to improve service quality and efficiency, the release added.
