Japan: Artificial intelligence in shipping
A partnership between Japanese maritime transportation firm MOL and an AI technology start-up from Silicon Valley intends to improve the shipping industry.
By Michael McGrady, Maritime Direct Americas & Pacific Correspondent
Mitsui OSK. Lines, Ltd. (MOL), a Japanese maritime transportation firm based in Tokyo, and artificial intelligence technology start-up Bearing, based in Palo Alto, Calif., have announced a new chapter to their ongoing strategic partnership established back in 2019.
The relationship between the two companies formed around improving shipping efficiencies within the global maritime industry, notes a press release.
After years of testing and trials, the two companies have announced an artificial intelligence-powered “smart routing engine.”
“This routing engine automatically analyzes multiple potential routes for a given voyage and recommends prudent, efficient routing through [the] use of optimal main engine output and propeller RPM profiles,” notes the same press release.
“These AI-powered models with some historical voyage data for certain vessels such as vessel speed, trim, main engine operation, weather, and sea condition allow Bearing to predict metrics like fuel consumption with state-of-the-art accuracy even without vessels’ design parameters.”
The Maritime Executive reports that MOL and Bearing have extreme potential for transformative changes that look forward to leveraging proprietary AI expertise.
