OSI Maritime Awarded Another Contract for its Collision Avoidance Decision Aid Project

By Kate E. Todd, 20 September 2024.

On September 10, 2024, OSI Maritime announced that is has been awarded a contract by Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada to begin Phase Two of its Collision Avoidance Decision Aid (CADA) project. The contract for Phase One was awarded in 2022.

The CADA project aims to test how artificial intelligence (AI) can be incorporated into the Royal Canadian Navy’s (RCN) Warship Electronic Chart Display and Information System, known as its Electronic Chart Precise Integrated Navigation System (ECPINS). Upon successful completion of testing, CADA is slated to be fully integrated into ECPINS.

OSI Maritime’s ECPINS software is used by Naval Warfare Officers to navigate the RCN’s platforms. It displays electronic versions of charts as well as information fed into it by all military and commercial sensors aboard to provide Officers with information such as the platform’s position, how it is moving in the water, environmental and oceanographic information, as well as where other vessels are.

By combining AI with ECPINS, CADA aims to optimize mariner’s situational awareness, accelerate decision making processes, and reduce the chance of human error causing collisions.

The RCN’s adoption of this technology constitutes the RCN’s first major foray into operationalizing maritime autonomous systems (MAS). MAS use AI to do things like navigate ships and undersea vehicles, without the need for human intervention. For surface ships utilizing MAS, the International Maritime Organization has outlined four levels of autonomy.

Level 1: Surface ships use MAS to automate processes and provide decision support to mariners aboard the vessel.
Level 2: MAS is used to control a vessel remotely, while mariners remain on board to take control of the ship if needed.
Level 3: Vessels are remotely controlled without mariners aboard.
Level 4: Vessels are fully autonomous, making decisions and acting independently.

CADA falls under the first level of autonomy.

The adoption of MAS is becoming increasingly necessary as the maritime security environment becomes more dangerous. Canada’s allies and adversaries have already begun adopting all levels of MAS, prompting Canada to consider how to best follow suit. Investments in CADA software is first action Canada has publicly taken to integrate MAS into the RCN’s fleet.

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