DRFT-MRKS

Ai draft-mark calculation
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What is Drft-Mrks?

DRFT MRKS is our industry-leading AI technology which is modernising the way ships, vessels, and other floating structures are weighed and checked.

Using a smartphone app powered by machine learning, DRFT MRKS accurately identifies where the water line comes to on a vessel’s hull, enabling the accurate measurement of its draught.

DRFT MRKS is an AI technology which is transforming the maritime industry. We are proud to have developed it in partnership with CENSIS and the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh.

KEY FEATURES

• DRFT MRKS uses algorithms applied to smartphone video recordings of the ship or vessel to identify the water line with a high level of accuracy

• The AI capability of the app mitigates challenging factors such as faded or rusted markings, poor lighting, marine growth, bad weather, the swell of the waves. It minimises human error

• The app reduces operational risk for seafarers when measuring the draught marks on the outboard side of the vessel, which can be done using the app with a drone, or by boat but at a safer distance

• It allows anyone to read draught marks with same skill and accuracy as an experienced mariner

Vessel in Norwegian fjord

Draught survey powered by AI

The draught of a vessel is a measure of the distance between the surface of the water where it meets the hull of the vessel – the waterline – and the keel or baseline of the vessel.

Accurate draught readings are essential for ensuring a vessel’s stability – determining how much cargo it is carrying and what depths a it can safely navigate.

For a ship, draught mark readings are read during cargo surveys, when the outcome is directly connected to the contractual value of the cargo. For a semisubmersible, draught mark readings are a critical indicator of how much equipment can be safely loaded.

A draught survey is traditionally done by eye, on all sides of the vessel. It requires a boat and good weather to optimise accuracy, and comes with inherent health and safety risks. It is time consuming and subject to operational inaccuracies. Our AI-powered DRFT MRKS app eliminates these limiting factors and variables.

Reinventing the art of weighing ships

 

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The need for innovation

Draught surveys done by eye are by their very nature not an exact science, and the accuracy of the calculated displacement may vary between 0.5 and 1.0%.

To put that into context, an error of just two centimetres in the mean draught would lead to an error in the displacement of 300t on a Capesize Bulk Carrier at a cargo survey, or of 24t during a lightship survey on a semisubmersible.

As well as the safety and operational risks for the vessel and crew, inaccurate draught survey readings can increase the risk of legal claims arising from alleged shortages of cargo as a result of discrepancies between draught survey results, and can negatively impact the safe operation of the vessel.