Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and IBM Japan Jointly Develop AI Platform to Enhance Decision-Making in Ship Operations

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Kentaro Tamura, hereinafter "MOL") and IBM Japan, Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Akio Yamaguchi, hereinafter "IBM Japan") have jointly developed an AI-powered platform (hereinafter the "Platform") designed to integrate diverse information related to ship operations and enhance decision-making.

The Platform serves as the core of MOL's Safety Operation Supporting Center (SOSC) (Note 1), which supports the safe operation of MOL-affiliated vessels navigating worldwide. It achieves improvements in the quality and speed of operational decisions by centrally managing information that was previously dispersed, such as weather and sea conditions, navigation status, and geopolitical trends, and by rapidly extracting information that vessels should be wary of.

[Image: MOL SOSC in operation]

In recent years, the environment surrounding ship operations has become increasingly complex due to rapid changes in weather and sea conditions, and the growing impact of geopolitical factors.

Under these circumstances, the SOSC faced the challenge of balancing the quality and speed of decision-making, which involved extracting critical events from vast and dispersed information, organizing them across multiple factors, and making crucial judgments simultaneously. The Platform, which commenced operation on July 1, combines the expertise in ship operations accumulated by SOSC, the AI technology of MOL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INDIA PVT. LTD., and IBM Japan's specialized knowledge in AI and data utilization. It was developed using the IBM Garage (Note 2) methodology, which drives value creation from system design proposals tailored to customer needs through to development and implementation.

[Key Features of the Platform]

1. Real-time Situation Awareness through Integration of Ship-Related Information A data management foundation that integrates real-time weather and sea condition data, vessel operational data, geopolitical information, and more, enabling a comprehensive understanding and centralized visualization of the environment surrounding vessels in navigation.

2. Decision Support by AI Assistant Utilizes generative AI to identify and extract real-time risks faced by vessels based on past operational records and current operational information, supporting situation monitoring, assessment, and prioritization in operational decision-making.

3. Advanced Knowledge Utilization Leverages past accident information, response case studies, and on-site expertise to enable organization-wide sharing and analysis.

These features enable SOSC personnel to quickly grasp critical events from vast amounts of information, leading to more proactive and accurate judgments than before. By combining AI data analysis with the insights of experienced captains, the quality of decisions is enhanced.

MOL Group will continue to expand the Platform's functionalities and target operations in collaboration with related companies, contributing to the overall improvement of safety in the maritime industry. This initiative is one of the measures to create value centered on "Safety" and "DX" to strengthen the management base in Phase 2 of MOL Group's management plan "BLUE ACTION 2035."

As a leader in safety (Leading in Safety), MOL will further evolve its proactive safety management through enhanced decision-making and strengthen its value provision to society and stakeholders by improving the reliability of maritime transport.

(Note 1) Safety Operation Supporting Center (SOSC) The SOSC functions as the central hub, comprehensively monitoring the status of MOL-operated vessels 24/7/365, providing advice for operational decisions, and proposing corrective actions. It supports the judgments of captains and operational managers based on weather and sea conditions, geopolitical trends, and navigation status, striving to prevent major accidents.

(Note 2) IBM Garage An IBM proprietary approach that realizes end-to-end value creation to accelerate digital transformation. For more details, please refer to the IBM Garage introductory webpage. https://www.ibm.com/jp-ja/garage