The maritime industry is on the cusp of a technological revolution, and the recent OpenTalk live event hosted by 36Kr shed light on the cutting-edge innovations driving this transformation. The event, themed “From Above Water to Underwater: Marine Equipment Blazes a New Trail,” featured Zhu Jiannan, CEO of ORCA Intelligent Vessel, and Gao Wanliang, CEO of Haoye Technology Group. Their insights into intelligent ships, surface unmanned systems, underwater equipment, and new-energy ship power systems provided a comprehensive overview of the industry’s current trajectory and future potential.
Zhu Jiannan, a seasoned engineer and entrepreneur, delved into the challenges and solutions associated with surface embodied and intelligent ships. He highlighted three primary hurdles: software algorithm challenges, reliability challenges, and cost challenges. The software algorithm challenges stem from the complex dynamics of water environments, including random disturbances from wind, waves, and swells, which complicate ship motion control. Traditional navigation sensors often fall short in accuracy, and road-based intelligent driving sensors are ill-suited for water surfaces due to issues like water reflection and mist. Decision-making in open, irregular scenarios further complicates the landscape.
To address these challenges, ORCA Intelligent Vessel has developed adaptive control and dynamic compensation solutions. They combine vision and millimeter-wave radar to enhance perception accuracy and have built a three-level decision-making tree that integrates international collision-avoidance rules and the experience of ship captains. Zhu emphasized the importance of real-world data, noting that ORCA has accumulated 800,000 kilometers of unsupervised navigation mileage and 50 million data points from nearly a thousand ships. This data is crucial for iterating algorithms and improving system reliability, serving as a competitive barrier for ORCA’s products.
Gao Wanliang, another industry luminary, shared his insights on the development of underwater equipment. He noted that the evolution of marine resources has transitioned from basic survival tools to the core infrastructure supporting the marine economy. The mainstream research directions include hydrological monitoring, nautical chart mapping, marine biological research, and marine aquaculture. With the increasing exploration of the ocean, new branches of marine application infrastructure have emerged, including equipment for constructing and maintaining undersea tunnels, optical cables, power cables, and wind-power drilling platforms.
Gao highlighted the transformation of China’s underwater equipment industry from a catch-up phase to a leading position. Chinese domestic equipment now covers every level of ocean depth from 0 to 11,000 meters. This progress is a testament to the rapid advancements in technology and innovation within the sector. Gao’s extensive experience, including leading the national key project “New-Energy Ships” and participating in over 50 national key R&D projects, underscores the depth of expertise driving these developments.
The event also touched on the broader implications of these technological advancements. The integration of intelligent systems and new-energy solutions is set to revolutionize maritime operations, enhancing efficiency, sustainability, and safety. As Zhu Jiannan and Gao Wanliang noted, the challenges are significant, but the potential rewards are even greater. The maritime industry is poised for a transformative shift, and the insights shared at the OpenTalk event provide a roadmap for navigating this exciting new era.
As the industry continues to evolve, the collaboration between visionary leaders like Zhu Jiannan and Gao Wanliang will be crucial. Their work not only addresses current challenges but also paves the way for future innovations. The maritime sector is on the brink of a new dawn, and the insights from this event offer a glimpse into the promising future that lies ahead.