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Orca AI To Save Lives With Its Collision Avoidance System For Ships
Orca AI combines data from sensors with artificial intelligence to provide real-time insights that reflect the changing conditions at sea.
The recent Suez Canal blockage, which lasted for six days after a 400-metre-long (1,300 ft) container ship ended up wedged across the waterway due to the combination of strong winds and human errors, showed the whole world just how easily can major shipping accidents happen and how severe and long-lasting their impact can be. Unfortunately, the Suez Canal blockage was just one of several thousand marine incidents that occur annually. Now, one Tel Aviv-based company has successfully raised €10.8 million in a Series A round to work on its ship navigation and collision avoidance system, Orca AI.
“The maritime industry has come leaps and bounds in recent years, but is still far behind aviation with technological innovations. Ships deal with increasingly congested waterways, severe weather and low-visibility conditions creating difficult navigation experiences with often expensive cargo,” says Orca AI CEO and co-founder Yarden Gross.
Orca AI combines data from sensors with artificial intelligence to provide real-time insights that reflect the changing conditions at sea. The system can be used for individual ships to deliver predictions and alerts on hazards, but it can also supply fleet managers with insights on the risk behavior and patterns of the entire fleet.
Also Read: Dubai-Based Startup Huspy Helps Emiratis Buy Homes Online
“Utilizing onboard navigation sensors and high-resolution cameras with proprietary AI algorithms, the technology is able to provide valuable insight such as alerting the crew on dangerous targets, prioritize risk in real-time and sort out complex navigation situations,” explains Dor Raviv, Co-Founder & CTO of Orca AI.
Other tech companies are also trying to make the shipping industry safer and less prone to costly accidents. For example, the Saudi Arabian Oil Company is using AI technology to monitor its maritime fleet, while Stockholm-based X Shore is exploring an auto-docking solution that could greatly streamline what’s arguably the most dangerous part of getting a massive cargo ship from point A to point B.
News
Noon And Yango Switch On Robot Deliveries In Dubai
The rollout folds autonomous couriers into noon’s rapid-delivery network as the UAE tests everyday autonomy.
Noon and Yango Group have signed an agreement to put autonomous robot deliveries into commercial use in Dubai, turning Yango’s earlier pilots into a daily service for noon Minutes orders. The launch in Sobha Hartland is the first full integration of Yango Autonomy’s electric robots with a major e-commerce network in the region, with wider deployment planned across Dubai and, later, other GCC markets.
Residents can choose a robot at checkout, track it in the app and unlock its compartment once it arrives. The hardware runs on Yango’s AI navigation and routing stack, which plans paths, avoids obstacles and yields to pedestrians. The units had already covered more than 1,500 kilometers during previous Dubai pilots, a test bed that demonstrated their ability to operate in mixed pedestrian environments and dense residential streets.
The rollout adds a contactless option to noon’s last-mile network and is positioned as extra capacity during peak periods. “Partnering with Yango Group lets us bring a future-ready delivery option straight to our customers,” said Ali Kafil-Hussain, noon’s Chief Business Officer. Noon has used Minutes to set rapid-delivery expectations in UAE cities; autonomous units now slot into that same high-frequency model.
Regulatory clearance from Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority underpins the move. The RTA authorized Yango’s robots to operate on public walkways and in neighborhoods, smoothing the shift from controlled trials to commercial work. Dubai has framed autonomous mobility as part of its smart-city buildout, and the partners lean on that agenda to accelerate integration.
Also Read: Uber And WeRide Roll Out Driverless Robotaxis In Abu Dhabi
For Yango, the partnership is an anchor for its autonomy platform in the Gulf. Islam Abdul Karim, Yango’s Middle East regional head, said the aim is to make autonomous delivery an “everyday, reliable service” for UAE communities. The company views operational data from early districts as the basis for scaling into more communities and, eventually, cross-border rollouts.
The move lands as Gulf retailers search for faster fulfilment and lower-emission logistics. Autonomous couriers remain a small share of last-mile delivery, but Dubai’s approvals and early usage data give the partners a clearer path to turn pilots into durable infrastructure.
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