• GNSS disruption does not remove data, it breaks alignment between systems. Position, timing, and AIS inputs remain available, but no longer match closely enough to be used without validation
• Navigation shifts from reading the situation to verifying it. Crews spend more time cross-checking radar, AIS, and visual inputs, and less time acting on a single source of information
• Operational risk builds through workload, not system failure. Slower decision-making, continuous verification, and limited task-sharing increase cognitive load over the course of a watch
• Low visibility removes the last reliable fallback. When GNSS and AIS are degraded, physical observation becomes the primary check on instrument data — but in fog, night, or poor weather, that option is itself constrained, compounding risk precisely when it matters most.
• Resilience requires an independent reference point. Orca AI adds a visual layer based on physical detection, supporting continued target detection and prioritization even when GNSS or AIS is unreliable, and reducing the time spent resolving conflicting inputs.
For over three decades, maritime navigation has been defined by a steady march toward digital integration. The bridge of a modern vessel is a marvel of connectivity, where Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), Automatic Identification Systems (AIS), Radar/ARPA, and ECDIS are now tightly interconnected, forming the backbone of situational awareness on the modern bridge. This digitalisation has delivered efficiency and precision, enabling smaller bridge teams to manage increasingly complex operating environments with fewer manual processes and tighter margins.
That model is now being tested in ways the industry did not previously have to account for. (....)