Hyun Joe Kim, executive vice president, Samsung Heavy Industries and Yarden Gross, founder and chief executive, Orca AI
Leading maritime AI company Orca AI has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI), one of the world’s leading shipbuilders, to jointly accelerate the development, deployment and scaling of next-generation autonomous vessel technologies in real-world operations.
The phased collaboration will combine SHI’s autonomous solutions with Orca AI’s AI-powered maritime operations platform, enabling the scaled deployment of AI-assisted navigation, berthing, and speed optimisation across both newbuild vessels and existing fleets.
As part of the partnership, Orca AI will integrate SHI’s advanced onboard technologies – including its SVISION berthing assistance system and autonomous speed control solution (RPM optimisation for fuel efficiency) – into its platform. This integration will deliver a new level of operational autonomy across Orca AI’s global footprint, which includes more than 1,200 vessels already deployed and over 500 additional vessels in the pipeline.
In parallel, SHI will integrate Orca AI’s platform into its newbuild vessels equipped with the Samsung Autonomous Ship (SAS) solution. The companies’ R&D teams will collaborate to accelerate the expansion of autonomous capabilities, focusing on real-time decision support, adaptive navigation, and continuous performance optimisation powered by large-scale operational data.
Orca AI’s SeaPod, AI-based lookout assistant, leverages advanced AI and computer vision to provide enhanced situational awareness, enabling bridge teams to detect, track, and prioritise navigational risks in real time. Orca AI’s shore-based FleetView application extends these capabilities to operations teams, offering deep visibility into vessel performance, risk exposure, and operational trends across entire fleets.
For Orca AI, the partnership enables the delivery of advanced autonomous capabilities to its growing customer base, while expanding its global footprint and accelerating the development of next-generation AI models through access to large-scale operational data.
For SHI, the collaboration will support the broader commercialisation of its SVISION and SAS systems, drive adoption across diverse vessel segments and enable the development of scalable, revenue-generating autonomous solution packages.
Yarden Gross, CEO and Co-founder of Orca AI, said: “Bringing together SHI’s deep expertise in vessel design and integration with our AI-driven situational awareness platform creates a practical path to scaling autonomous capabilities – from newbuild vessels to existing fleets. This partnership enables both companies to accelerate innovation and deliver tangible value to the industry.”
Kim Hyun-jo, Head of SHI’s Research Institute, added: “We are excited to collaborate with Orca AI, a leading maritime AI company that has demonstrated its ability to deliver production-grade AI and autonomous capabilities. Enhancing our business portfolio and advancing technologies through AI-based autonomous navigation is a key competitive factor for the future of the shipbuilding industry. Through this collaboration, we will actively pursue technological leadership by internalising differentiated autonomous navigation technologies and expanding our platform strategy.”
