A robot walks the pontoons
A Croatian marina has a robot that walks its pontoons and inspects 1,400 berths automatically. The thermal camera on the machine interests us more than the robot itself.
Technology NAMMERT Assekuradeur GmbH
Marina Punat on the island of Krk says it is the first marina to deploy an AI guided patrol robot. It covers the roughly 1,400 berths and takes over what staff otherwise do by hand. It registers when a boat lies differently from before and checks the condition of lines, fenders and covers. The owner receives this as a digital inspection report.
The technically most interesting part is a thermal camera. It detects heat build up below deck on boats with nobody aboard. That is precisely where fires start that nobody notices until they spread to the neighbour.
Whether the idea catches on is open. The thinking behind it certainly will. A marina that knows what is happening on its pontoons reports damage earlier and smaller.
For an owner who berths abroad and visits a few times a year, that is the real gain. A boat left alone for eight months is currently checked by whoever happens to walk past. A record of what was seen, and when, is worth more than the technology that produced it.
What this means for owners
For us the inspection report is the interesting part, not the robot. After storm damage the hardest question is often how the boat was made fast beforehand. A dated report from the marina answers it in one sentence. Owners whose marina keeps such records should send them in with the claim.
Our view as NAMMERT, not part of the news. Your own policy wording decides.
Where this comes from
The text is our own; the sources supplied the facts and figures, not the wording.
