Israeli friends found ‘Waze of the seas’

(TIMES OF ISRAEL) Dor Raviv spent much of his childhood on yachts, sailing and travelling around the world with his family. Yarden Gross was born into a family that ran a business taking visitors on tourist boats around the Sea of Galilee in the north of Israel.

The two founders met and became friends during their military service in the Israeli Navy. At the age of 30, Raviv, an electrical engineer, and Gross, an entrepreneur, decided to turn their deep-rooted knowledge of the sea and tech experience into fulfilling a dream: the development of an autonomous system for navigating commercial ships and navy vessels in congested waters.

The two naval tech experts founded Orca AI in 2018, aiming to use artificial intelligence to make the high seas safer. Their autonomous maritime navigation platform aims to steer ships clear of various threats, from fellow seafarers to missiles or bridges, securing an increasingly crowded and always perilous channel for global trade.

Earlier this month, the startup launched a new onboard system called Co-Captain, which the firm describes as “Waze of the seas.” The system enables real-time sea condition data-sharing between vessels on traffic, weather conditions, and other disruptions to help crews anticipate hazards early and navigate risks in complex waters.

“We took inspiration from our day-to-day life using Google Maps and Waze, although in the maritime industry there are different types of events and routes that if you had prior acquired knowledge of, such as low-visibility conditions, you could quickly adjust your route,” said Raviv, who serves as Orca’s CTO.