Ships create 'Waze of the Seas' network for real-time hazard sharing

Weather-related alerts carry significant operational implications beyond safety concerns. "When sailing at 12 knots in fair weather, fuel costs are about US$70 per nautical mile. But once wave heights rise above 2 m, that number climbs to nearly US$90 per mile," Mr Aviv noted, explaining that rough seas can increase fuel consumption by 18%. The system provides crews with actual sea state data, including wind speed and direction, expected vessel motion characteristics based on ship type and size, and visual footage of the conditions ahead. This is intelligence that enables routeing optimisation similar to how Waze helps drivers avoid fuel-wasting traffic congestion.

The technology builds upon Orca AI’s existing SeaPod platform, which combines onboard cameras with ship sensors to provide real-time navigation support. The addition of CoCaptain creates what chief executive Yarden Gross describes as "a network of ships that are communicating between one another in a way never seen in shipping before." Mr Gross positioned the system as an evolution of the Automatic Identification System (AIS), explaining, "AIS sends very limited strings of data such as ship position, heading. CoCaptain captures information from multiple sensors at any given moment in high frequency from cameras, radars, speed, GPS. You can analyse situations in a much better way and provide much better insights to ships around."

The platform delivers comprehensive coverage through multiple alert types. Beyond severe weather and GPS spoofing detection, CoCaptain monitors congested waters where high traffic density and recent close encounters are reported, Speed Over Ground violations that support compliance with company policies and environmental regulations, piracy activity zones where crews receive instant notifications about reported incidents, and whale-protected areas where vessels are reminded to adjust speed and follow environmental regulations. Notice to Mariners alerts also provide critical updates on navigational hazards such as floating containers, buoy shifts, unmarked obstacles, ice, man overboard incidents and pollution.

Unlike Waze’s social features that allow tracking friends and earning points for contributions, CoCaptain maintains strict data anonymisation. "The data is based on GPS location or based on ship location. We don’t know whose ship it is," Mr Gross emphasised, addressing industry concerns about competitive intelligence. Ships can opt out of the sharing network, though Mr Gross noted the powerful network effects created as more vessels join in. This echoes how Waze’s effectiveness increased with user participation. Mr Gross reported that initial feedback from crews during limited release has been positive, with a major release planned for the following week.

The company said the development reflects broader shifts in maritime connectivity, particularly the expansion of satellite networks like Starlink that enable high-frequency data collection from vessel sensors. This connectivity transformation, which Mr Gross dates to 2023, has created opportunities to implement Waze-like collaborative navigation at sea, where previously such real-time data sharing was impossible. "Ships are becoming more connected to the cloud, it enables us in the industry to collect more data... you have 5G in the middle of the ocean," Mr Gross explained.

Looking ahead, Mr Gross views CoCaptain as a stepping stone towards greater maritime autonomy. "When we look at autonomous ships, you still have the crew on board to supervise operation and at any given moment they can take manual control back. But... the ship leaves the port, and then it goes into autonomous mode until the destination. At this point, the ship gets real-time data from the cloud, from other ships, from the port of destination, calculating and optimising the voyage," he explained. The International Maritime Organization’s Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships regulatory framework, expected in 2028, will provide structure for such developments.

With more than 1,500 ships under contract and deployment on over 1,000 vessels increasing monthly, Orca AI said it has reached the critical mass necessary for effective crowd-sourced navigation. "We waited to have enough density in order for ships to be able to share this information and be in similar areas," Mr Gross noted, explaining that vessels need to be within six hours to a day apart depending on the use case. As the network expands, CoCaptain promises to deliver what has effectively become the maritime industry’s answer to the revolutionary crowd-sourced navigation model that Waze pioneered for roads, transforming isolated vessels into a collaborative fleet sharing collective intelligence for safer, more efficient navigation.

Maritime professionals interested in navigation safety and AI integration can join Orca AI’s free webinar Closing the Perception Gap: Safer Navigation in Busy Waters on Tuesday 25 November at 14:00-15:00 GMT. The session will feature industry leaders including Captain Gaurav Kapoor (Pacific Carriers), Captain Denis Dude (TMS Cardiff Gas), Pierre C Sames (DNV), and Dor Raviv (Orca AI) discussing how bridge teams can navigate complex conditions whilst reducing human error. Register here