Anglo-Eastern Ship Management has entered a strategic partnership with Orca AI that will see the Hong Kong-headquartered manager integrate the Israeli company’s AI-enabled navigation and operations platform across its managed fleet. The deal makes Anglo-Eastern the first major third-party ship manager to formally commit to AI-assisted situational awareness at this scale, moving the technology out of pilot projects and into day-to-day fleet operations.
Under the agreement, Anglo-Eastern will include Orca AI in its customer offering, positioning the platform as part of its broader digitalisation and safety programme rather than a standalone gadget. The rollout will span both onboard and shoreside systems, tying bridge-level decision support into office-based monitoring and performance analysis.
Core to the deployment is Orca AI’s SeaPod “digital watchkeeper,” a vision- and sensor-based system designed to sharpen situational awareness in congested waters and poor visibility. It is paired with FleetView, a shore platform that aggregates real-time and historical navigation data to support incident review, risk analysis, and operational optimisation across large fleets.
“Safety is paramount, and the Orca AI platform provides an extra layer of support when it matters most,” said Torbjorn Dimblad, CIO of Anglo-Eastern. “By reducing workload and providing alerts and recommendations in critical navigation scenarios, we’re actively driving safety and operational efficiency, alongside key initiatives in upskilling our crews and fostering young talent. This partnership reflects our continued commitment to shaping the digital future of ship management.”
Dimblad added that Anglo-Eastern’s diverse portfolio of shipowner clients is pushing the company to move faster on data and automation. He described the AI navigation rollout as a practical way to capture insights at scale and tighten risk management across an “extensive and varied fleet,” positioning Anglo-Eastern as an early mover in AI-assisted bridge operations among global managers.
For Orca AI, which has so far focused mainly on shipowners and operators, Anglo-Eastern represents a route into the multi-client ship management market. The company’s platform is already used by several large shipping businesses to support collision avoidance, improve passage planning, cut fuel consumption, and reduce emissions by smoothing speed profiles and avoiding inefficient manoeuvres.
“Anglo-Eastern is one of the most trusted names in global ship management, known for its operational excellence and people-first approach,” said Yarden Gross, Co-founder and CEO of Orca AI. “Their decision to partner with us is not only a strong endorsement of our technology but also a signal to the market that AI will be a cornerstone of safe, efficient, and sustainable ship operations”.
As regulatory scrutiny around safety, emissions, and data transparency continues to rise, large managers are under pressure to demonstrate that digital initiatives move beyond dashboards and into measurable risk reduction. If the Anglo-Eastern deployment delivers fewer close-quarters incidents, cleaner audit trails, and lower fuel burn across hundreds of vessels, it will raise the bar for how quickly other major ship managers are expected to bring AI onto the bridge.
