To spot shallow waters with better effectiveness, Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) has upgraded its augmented reality navigation tool. Built in collaboration with Furuno Electric, the platform would now be able to display borders between deepsea areas, where vessels can navigate safely, and the shallower areas to minimize risks.
The new system allows for a switch to an automatic full-time display of the safety contour as opposed to the conventional manual system to display shallow areas. This is bound to significantly enhance the navigators’ situation awareness.
The new AR navigation system has already been installed on 24 MOL-operated very large crude carriers (VLCCs). The company plans to incorporate the system onboard several vessels shortly, beginning the trials on its energy transport fleet including LNG carriers, as well as dry bulk carriers.
A MOL-operated bulk carrier, the Wakashio newcastlemax, was involved in last year’s most high-profile grounding. The vessel came to rest on coral reefs 2 km off the coastline of Mauritius, an accident the shipping major is footing the bills for.
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