MARITIME & SUBSEA

Martime Industry Challenges

The maritime industry faces a complex set of challenges when implementing and using computer vision systems for safety, security, automation, and autonomous operations on land and sea. These challenges arise from:

  • Weather conditions: Rain, snow, fog, smoke, murky water, and salt spray that obscure the video.
  • Lighting issues: Operating in low-light, nighttime and subsea, or with sun glare and backlight.
  • Antiquated processes and systems: Old cameras and illumination systems and manual monitoring can lead to missed and false incidents.

Real-time monitoring of maritime environments with ProHawk AI in the video workflow overcomes all environmental impediments and lighting issues to enable decisive action at the decisive time and place. The key benefits and outcomes include:

  • Perimeter security and personnel safety
  • Operations safety and security
    • Infrastructure and vessel inspection
    • Cargo monitoring
    • Collision avoidance
  • Lower TCO of video camera infrastructure

Under the Sea Challenges

Subsea exploration and support are crucial in a large number of emerging and growing industries including oil and gas, wind power, farming, commercial and scientific research. Subsea communication cables, of which there are ~ 800,000 miles of, provide internet and voice communication worldwide. The subsea environment faces complex challenges for optical and sensors systems to enhance safety, security, and autonomous operations. These daunting challenges include:
  • Turbidity: suspended particles greatly affect the visible range in water and can reduce it to nil.
  • Darkness and color: as light is strongly absorbed by water, the subsea environment grows rapidly darker and color washes-out as depth increases.
  • Near-surface glare: glare from the sun or man-made lighting at the top of the water column can hide objects just below the surface.
Our oceans cover more than 70% of the Earth’s surface and the NOAA estimates that as much as 95% of the world’s oceans and 99% of the ocean floor are unexplored.

Conditions are far from ideal, and the deeper you go, the darker the surroundings become, and at extreme depths, total darkness. ProHawk AI can remove silt, present clear images even in complete darkness, and reveal granular details in video footage which are critical for site inspection, marine research – and treasure hunting!  ProHawk is being used by remote operated vehicles, submarines, and divers to reveal what’s hidden in the depths.

To learn more, please see:
Navigating Subsea Safety and Security Challenges with Computer Vision AI

Making History with the History Channel

The Curse of Oak Island is a reality TV series airing on the History Channel. The show follows brothers Marty and Rick Lagina, through their efforts to find the speculated treasure or historical artifacts believed to be on Oak Island. When the producers of the show needed to see in the dark and through the silt they reached out to the ProHawk to clear things up. 

Challenging Visibility

When it is clear that much of what needs to be explored is deep underground in a submerged cave producers reach out to ProHawk for assistance.

Visibility underwater in cave environments is usually crystal clear until you add a diver. Divers touch walls and floors, they kick up silt, and they quickly obscure visibility. When you’re searching for treasure, this becomes a potentially very costly problem!

How was this challenge overcome? What was revealed? Watch this video, courtesy of A&E Networks.

Failure is Not an Option

The safety and security risks associated with  gas  and oil production are well known. While millions enjoy the benefits of affordable natural gas piped direct to their homes, few dwell on where this comes from and how it reaches them. Until something goes wrong.

Companies involved in oil drilling understand the risks and benefits of frequent pipeline inspection. Recent years have seen the off-shore industry shift from a reliance on deep-sea divers, to trialing and adopting remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). While ROVs can prove less expensive and less risky than humans, they’re only as good as the video images they collect.

ProHawk changes the game for subsea ROVs by cutting through silt and revealing details hidden in the shadows of challenging subsea environments. ProHawk software integrates with existing systems, allowing coast guards, oil drillers and treasure hunters to quickly see the benefits.