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Safer navigation through congested waters and GPS spoofing on Sea Traders S.A. vessels

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The customer

Five decades of safety-first dry bulk shipping

Founded in 1974, Greece-based Sea Traders S.A. is part of the Procopiou group. It operates 27 vessels (26 bulk carriers and 1 containership) and manages navigation alongside Prominence Maritime, which runs 4 bulk carriers within the same group.
Over the decades since, Sea Traders has built its name on operational discipline, holding its fleet to zero tolerance for accidents, pollution, complaints, and security incidents.

  • 5

    Vessels installed

  • 246K+

    Nautical miles sailed with Orca AI

  • 7K+

    Navigational events analyzed

  • 9/10

    Average NPS across the pilot fleet

The challenge

Strengthening navigation resilience in congested waters

Sea Traders S.A. vessels trade through some of the most demanding waters in the world, and the company set out to give bridge teams more support in the moments when traditional equipment leaves gaps:

  • Non-AIS traffic in low visibility

    Small wooden fishing boats, nets, and buoys in Asian waters often carry no AIS signal and can be missed by Radar, leaving officers to identify them by eye in heavy traffic.

  • GPS spoofing and unreliable AIS

    In the Strait of Hormuz, the Arabian Gulf, and the Red Sea, positioning signals can be falsified and AIS distorted, so the position on the bridge displays can drift from where the vessel actually is.

  • Watchkeeping load and a widening experience gap

    Extended watches, crew shortages, and changing experience levels put steady pressure on bridge teams. A newer officer needs the same awareness as the master before them.

The solution

Continuous visual awareness onboard, and fleet-wide oversight ashore

Sea Traders S.A. installed Orca AI across 5 vessels. SeaPod works onboard alongside Radar and ECDIS, and FleetView gives the office ashore a continuous view of how each vessel is navigated.

Navigation support

A second set of eyes for the officer of the watch

Sea Traders S.A. installed Orca AI’s digital watchkeeper SeaPod to give the officer of the watch a continuous visual reference, so developing encounters are assessed earlier and with more margin. It provides:

  • Detection and prioritization of targets without AIS, including wooden fishing boats, buoys, and small craft
  • A thermal view for night navigation and low visibility
  • Alerts when GPS positions jump, and a camera-only mode that keeps tracking the bearing and distance of targets when GPS or AIS can’t be trusted

"Safety is paramount. Orca AI helps our crews make better decisions and navigate difficult environments with less stress, while also supporting operational efficiency."

Captain Nestoras Grigoropoulos, HSSQE Manager and DPA
Sea Traders S.A. and Prominence Maritime
Navigation resilience

Navigating through GPS spoofing and AIS disruptions

GPS spoofing has moved from edge case to operational reality over the past year. Orca AI’s SeaPod gives the bridge a reference that doesn’t depend on GPS or AIS. When sudden jumps in a vessel’s reported position point to unreliable data, it alerts the crew and switches to a camera-only mode alongside Radar, continuing to detect and prioritize targets and estimate their bearing and distance from live imagery.

Orca AI helps us correlate the targets when the AIS is not reliable. It's very effective at night, in clutter, or during signal spoofing.

Captain Sanju Singh, Master, Samoa
Sea Traders S.A.
For the office

Fleet-level safety performance oversight

With FleetView, Sea Traders’ shore team reviews close encounters, COLREGs compliance, and SOG compliance across the fleet, and briefs crews on GPS interference along their routes before they transit. When reported near misses went up in the early months, the team read it as proof that events were finally being captured. Today, every close encounter is reviewed together with the vessel, focused on what to improve.

Crew training

Building adoption through training and feedback

Each month, the office sends every vessel its SeaPod results benchmarked against the fleet, and runs training when the data calls for it (after a crew change or a drop in engagement) using playback of real events. The benchmarking adds an edge of professional pride that keeps engagement high across crew rotations.

Every accident carries a cost far beyond the repair: the ship, the cargo, the crew, the company's name. When you weigh that against what prevention costs, safety becomes the soundest investment a shipowner can make.

Panos Kourkountis, Technical Director
Sea Traders S.A.
The results

Operational safety improvements across the fleet

Across the 5 vessels, Sea Traders S.A. officers now spot developing situations earlier and make smaller, more timely adjustments. Masters rated Orca AI 9 out of 10 in satisfaction average, highlighting better detection of small craft in congested Asian waters and faster, more confident assessments from newer officers.

  • 53%

    Reduction in close-encounter events per 1,000 NM in open waters

  • 14%

    Increase in average minimum passing distance in open waters

Learn how Sea Traders improved navigational safety.

Learn more

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