Orca AI Launches Co-Captain: The "Waze of the Seas"

Orca AI launched Co-Captain in November 2025, the world's first vessel-to-vessel real-time data sharing platform connecting over 1,000 Orca AI-equipped vessels into a collaborative navigation network where ships share and receive verified alerts based on actual sea conditions — creating what the company calls the "Waze of the Seas" for maritime operations. Network effect for navigation safety: Between 2018 and 2024, maritime safety incidents rose 42% with shipping casualties reaching 3,310 cases worldwide. Co-Captain addresses this by turning every equipped vessel into both a sensor and source of awareness. Each ship continuously uploads data to the cloud, where it is processed to trigger relevant alerts — including high traffic, GPS interference, severe weather, piracy zones, and navigational hazards — sent to vessels on intersecting routes. The platform delivers route-specific notifications tailored to each vessel's operational context. Unique capability: When a vessel experiences high waves and heavy weather, that real-time information is immediately shared across the network with other ships on the same route, including video clips showing actual sea state and visibility — not just forecasts. Crews receive warnings enabling timely adjustments to speed, course, or watchkeeping before conditions impact their voyage. Orca AI CEO Yarden Gross emphasized: "Given that 90% of world trade goes by sea, this kind of collaborative navigation is no longer optional — it's a safety, environmental and security imperative." All data is fully anonymized, protecting proprietary operational information while maximizing collective safety. With over 100 million nautical miles of data collected, Orca AI's dataset forms an unmatched foundation for next-generation situational awareness. [Orca AI / IEEE Spectrum]

This story is part of the Maritime AI Digest of 1 February 2026.