TOKYO-Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL; President & CEO: Junichiro Ikeda) today announced the introduction of the Vessel View VR, a virtual reality system that allows for virtual ship visits, based on technology developed by NURVE, Inc. (President: Hideki Tada; Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo).
Vessel View VR opens up new opportunities and provides access to information that until now has been limited in conventional ship visits.
| Restrictions in Conventional Visits | Vessel View VR | |
| Capacity of visitors per visit | The number of visitors a vessel can accept | In principle, no limit, assuming visitors have an internet connection and proper log-in privileges |
| Arrangement for ship visit | An individual application for each visitor must be submitted ahead of time to the chief customs inspector | |
| Required time for ship visit | A round trip to calling port and physically boarding the vessel | |
| Timing of ship visit | Limited to a short time during port calls and while in a dockyard, and subject to weather conditions | |
| Location of ship visit | Mainly at calling ports | |
| Communication during ship visit | Noise from machinery in engine room and so on can make it difficult for visitors to listen to explanations | |
| Safety during ship visit | Necessity to ensure the safety of visitors during ship visits, as well as the safety of the vessels, crewmembers, and loaded cargoes. | |
| Burden of ship side | Onboard visits add more tasks to the workload, in addition to normal operations such as loading/unloading, preparation for voyage, and ship inspections |
The virtual ship visit is introduced into the car carrier Beluga Ace, one of MOL’s next-generation FLEXIE series car carriers, delivered in March of this year as first step. The vessel is huge, measuring 199.9m long and 32.2m wide, so it would be very difficult for in-person visitors to tour all areas of the ship within a limited time. In addition, the vessel’s structure is difficult to grasp intuitively by looking only at the blueprints and photos. This initiative allows a simple, intuitive grasp of various on-board areas.
(Public access may be ended without prior notice.)
