Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has introduced a new ‘virtual ship visit’ system, to allow shore-based personnel to remotely inspect different areas of a ship within a virtual environment.
The ‘Fleet Tour’ application uses Ricoh Theta 360-degree cameras, linked with the Theta 360.biz virtual tour production service, to produce the virtual ship environment. The goal is to allow ship management companies and vessel operators to browse 360-degree onboard images and videos from anywhere using PCs or smart devices, allowing them to experience locations on the ship as if they were visiting in person.
MOL says that it expects the new service to be particularly effective as a technology-based support for vessel inspections, in light of the ongoing difficulty of conducting in-person ship visits during the COVID-19 pandemic.
MOL Ship Management, an MOL Group dry bulkship management company, has already adopted the application.
The Fleet Tour initiative is an element of part III of MOL’s ongoing FOCUS Project to digitalise and optimise its vessel operations, following the introduction of its ‘Fleet Viewer’ application to monitor vessel operation data, and its ‘Fleet Performance’ software to track vessel performance.
