Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. (K Line), TIS Inc. and Miotsukushi Analytics Inc. have jointly developed a draught survey application. The application is designed to use artificial intelligence (AI) to accurately measure a ship’s draught.
The draught of a ship is the vertical distance from the bottom of the hull to the water surface when the vessel is afloat.
AI is now used to recognise the water surface and the draught mark from an image captured with a smartphone and to display the accurate draught level with the impact of waves removed on the screen to help accurately measure the draught.
At the end of July, the three companies jointly filed a patent application for this newly developed application.
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Waves can impact draught measurements
The draught is measured to calculate the weight of cargo loaded onto dry bulk carriers. Today, it is done by crew members and surveyors using the naked eye. It is possible to survey the draught with the human eye.
However, it is done at the anchorage, which in some ports may be susceptible to waves. There have been cases where draught measurements even by experienced maritime professionals display a greater margin of error than expected.
The jointly developed automatic draught survey application makes use of the “AI and data analysis service” offered by TIS and Miotsukushi and combines it with smartphones to supplement draught measurement that traditionally depended on the experience of maritime professionals. This helps equalize the degree of safety in navigation and cargo operations and maximise the cargo transportation volume.
With the use of data and digital technologies, K Line seeks to enhance safety, environmental conservation and quality in a bid to boost its competitiveness and corporate value.
Also read: K Line to demonstrate small-scale CO2 capture onboard ship
