Artificial intelligence in shipping has long been a buzzword. Now, says Yarden Gross, CEO and co-founder of Orca AI, it\u2019s fast becoming the bridge linking sea and shore \u2014 and the next 12 months could be the most pivotal yet.<\/p>\n
Gross tells Maritime CEO that shipping is on the cusp of a major leap. \u201cThe trend of connecting more ships to the cloud is only accelerating,\u201d he says. \u201cThat connectivity unlocks enormous amounts of operational data, which fuels automation and AI-enabled tools.\u201d<\/p>\n
A key milestone will arrive next year, when two fully autonomous vessels operated by Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) enter commercial service \u2014 with Orca AI providing their \u2018eyes\u2019, delivering a 360\u00b0 field of view and real-time situational awareness. \u201cIt\u2019s not just a step forward for our partnership,\u201d Gross says. \u201cIt\u2019s a leap for the entire maritime industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Companies are now hiring data scientists and digital specialists with no maritime background<\/p>\n
As one of the sector\u2019s leading AI vision pioneers, Orca AI has seen first-hand how attitudes toward digital investment have evolved. \u201cTraditionally, shipowners wouldn\u2019t move unless they saw immediate ROI,\u201d Gross says. \u201cWith technology, it\u2019s different. The value often appears over the medium to long term \u2013 through improved safety, efficiency, and competitiveness. Pennies are dropping across the board as people understand you have to invest upfront to reap the benefits later.\u201d<\/p>\n
The potential, he argues, goes far beyond automated navigation. \u201cAt sea, AI is driving more advanced decision support systems and higher levels of automation,\u201d he says. \u201cIn offices, AI agents are already replacing repetitive tasks \u2014 from daily ops to chartering and commercial workflows. They\u2019re being integrated with company databases so users can analyse data and take action instantly. The potential for efficiency gains is vast, and the industry is finally waking up to that.\u201d<\/p>\n
This digital awakening is also transforming the people side of shipping. Orca AI\u2019s team combines software engineers and former seafarers \u2014 but Gross notes a growing shift among owners and operators themselves. \u201cWhat\u2019s new is that companies are now hiring data scientists and digital specialists with no maritime background,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s a major change from the days when the IT department handled everything. It shows the industry now sees digitalisation as a strategic necessity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, Orca AI is developing new features to push its autonomous platform further. \u201cWe\u2019re building capabilities that will deliver an even higher level of automation and operational safety,\u201d Gross says. \u201cThe future of shipping is autonomous \u2014 and it\u2019s getting closer every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gross co-founded Orca AI seven years ago, having previously co-founded Engie, a car maintenance app.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With GPS interference becoming an ever hotter news item, such as this past weekend\u2019s Qatari decision to halt all navigation in its waters<\/a>, Gross argued in an earlier interview with Splash Extra that ships urgently need AI-based situational awareness to support crews and maintain safe navigation when traditional tools are compromised. That interview \u2013 headlined \u2018When GPS falters and AIS goes dark\u2019 \u2013 is available here.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Artificial intelligence in shipping has long been a buzzword. Now, says Yarden Gross, CEO and co-founder of Orca…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":187372,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[554,733,4308,86,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-187371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-technology","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}