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MOL introduces virtual ship visit application
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. announced the release of the "Fleet Tour" virtual ship visit application using the Ricoh Theta, a 360-degree camera and the Theta 360.biz a virtual tour production service, both from Ricoh Company, Ltd. This is part of the FOCUS Project, following the "Fleet Viewer" application, which monitors vessel operation data, and "Fleet Performance" application that tracks vessel performance.
Ship management companies and operators can browse 360-degree onboard images and videos from anywhere using PCs and smart phones, and intuitively experience various places on the ship as if they were visiting in person.
MOL Ship Management Co., Ltd., an MOL Group core dry bulkship management company, has already adopted the application, in move to enhance the quality of their ship management services.
The MOL Group works to enhance safe operation by comparing fixed points in important areas such as the deck, cargo holds, and the engine room, and horizontally developing group-wide expertise and marine engineering know-how through addition of special notes on photographic images, in cooperation with MOLSHIP and other ship management companies that are familiar onboard operations and procedures.
MOL Group land-based employees have limited opportunities to visit all areas onboard giant vessels over 300m long, especially in relatively short in-person visits. This makes it hard to intuitively grasp the ship structure through drawings and conventional planar images. But the "Fleet Tour" application addresses such issues. In addition, the MOL Group expects this to be particularly effective as an ICT-based approach to vessel inspection, considering the difficulty of conducting in-person ship visits during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Through the FOCUS project, MOL continually strives to expand the development and adoption of applications that use in-service fleet operation data, with the aim of creating applications that grow along with users' needs. The company seeks to offer stress-free transport services with greater safety and reduced environmental impact.