MOL to install augmented reality navigation system

The Japanese shipping company announced plans to install the system on 21 very large crude oil carriers it operates.

   Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) plans to install a navigation system using augmented reality (AR) on 21 of the very large crude oil carriers operated by the group, the Japanese shipping company announced Monday.
   The system displays information on other ships sailing on a vessel’s planned route as well as surrounding sea areas and ocean conditions on tablets and screens. It also integrates information from the Automatic Identification System and radar with real-time video images from the bridge camera.
   “The system provides visual support to crew members during their watch-keeping and ship operations by using AR technology to superimposing real-time video imagery and voyage information,” MOL said in the statement announcing the plan.
   The system, which used technology jointly developed by Furuno Electric Co. Ltd. and MOL Techno-Trade Ltd., already has been installed on the car carrier Beluga Ace, which was delivered in March 2018, and VLCC Suzukasan, delivered in October. MOL sequentially will install the system in its energy transport fleet, including LNG carriers, and its dry bulkers.
   “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,” MOL said in the statement. “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.”