The Finland-headquartered tech company will supply, install, and commission its Groke Pro Situational Awareness System to a pair of bulk carriers operated by a Greek shipowner.
The order is for a 60,960-tonne deadweight geared bulk carrier and a slightly smaller ultramax vessel, which will receive the complete Groke Pro package.
The sensor unit, to be installed atop the bulkers' monkey deck, will house two cameras: a thermal night and a day one, as well as IMU, Dual GNSS, and AIS receivers.
"Powered by a central unit installed inside the vessel, AI and machine vision technologies are used to detect and analyse objects in the vessel's surroundings. Sensor fusion technology melds data from multiple sources to provide a superior situational awareness, day or night," Groke Technologies explained in a press brief.
The company furthered, "For the bridge of each vessel, a 27-inch fixed display unit will be installed in addition to iPad Pro-based tablets running the user interface. Groke Fleet, a new solution for fleet managers shoreside, will also be included in the package."
According to Groke Technologies, the installation and commissioning process takes one day, all the while the vessel is operational.
"One feature that elevates Groke Pro from a digital watchkeeper to an intelligent companion is its real-time risk analysis capability. This presents the crew with crucial as-it-happens information about the vessel's surroundings on which to base navigational decisions," Groke Technologies further underlined.
"The importance of this order cannot be understated. Greek of companies control more than 20% of the merchant fleet, making it the world's largest operator of tonnage. Greece is a hugely important but difficult maritime market to penetrate, so delighted that our first European order is from a Greek operator. This is a significant development not only for us, but for maritime safety globally," said Juha Rokka, the company's CEO.
Marc van der Meij, Groke Technologies' Head of Global Sales, added, "The ship management company was very impressed with how the technology is making the domestic Japanese fleet [such as the MC Shipping-owned wind-assisted bulker Pyxis Ocean] navigationally safer, especially during operations where watchkeeping visibility is poor or in heavily congested waters."
Photo: Groke Technologies