A system to control a watercraft including an engine includes a first temperature sensor and a controller. The first temperature sensor is operable to detect a temperature of the engine. The controller is configured or programmed to obtain the temperature of the engine either upon an activation of the controller or a start of the engine. The controller is configured or programmed to estimate an environmental temperature of the watercraft based on the temperature of the engine obtained either upon the activation of the controller or the start of the engine.

A system and method for calculating a draft/freeboard for a vessel. The system includes multiple sensor units, wherein each sensor unit includes a housing; a distance sensor to sense a freeboard from various positions in the vessel. The sensor unit includes a coupling member, such as magnets coupled to the housing that allow the sensor units to be mounted to the vessel. The sensor units can connect to a control unit for processing data and presenting the measurements. The system can calculate drafts from the freeboard data, wherein the freeboard data can be determined from different positions of the vessel.

A system and method for calculating a draft/freeboard for a vessel. The system includes multiple sensor units, wherein each sensor unit includes a housing; a distance sensor to sense a freeboard from various positions in the vessel. The sensor unit includes a coupling member, such as magnets coupled to the housing that allow the sensor units to be mounted to the vessel. The sensor units can connect to a control unit for processing data and presenting the measurements. The system can calculate drafts from the freeboard data, wherein the freeboard data can be determined from different positions of the vessel.

The route navigation system includes a weather information distributing server which distributes weather data obtained from a weather sensor, a marine information distributing server which distributes marine data obtained from a marine sensor, a satellite information distributing server which distributes satellite data obtained from an artificial satellite, a route navigation server which performs route navigation for ships when requested and a terminal device that processes a certain application, and that obtains a result of the route navigation from the route navigation server and displays the result in a state where a user requests the route navigation via the application. With this configuration, the route navigation system provides ships with more accurate, safer, and more economical route navigation by utilizing cloud computation via the Internet.

The route navigation system includes a weather information distributing server which distributes weather data obtained from a weather sensor, a marine information distributing server which distributes marine data obtained from a marine sensor, a satellite information distributing server which distributes satellite data obtained from an artificial satellite, a route navigation server which performs route navigation for ships when requested and a terminal device that processes a certain application, and that obtains a result of the route navigation from the route navigation server and displays the result in a state where a user requests the route navigation via the application. With this configuration, the route navigation system provides ships with more accurate, safer, and more economical route navigation by utilizing cloud computation via the Internet.

A method is provided for planning a trajectory to be performed by a marine vessel between a first point and a second point, the trajectory having a first path and a second path. The method includes a first step (202) of computing a theoretical trajectory in a ground reference frame from the first point to the second point assuming an absence of water current, the theoretical trajectory comprising a first theoretical path and a second theoretical path. A second step (204) includes computing a second path in the ground reference frame, and a third step includes (206) computing a corrected first path in a water reference. A fourth step includes (208) computing the trajectory in the ground reference frame from the first point to the second point based on the corrected first path and the second path.

A method is provided for planning a trajectory to be performed by a marine vessel between a first point and a second point, the trajectory having a first path and a second path. The method includes a first step (202) of computing a theoretical trajectory in a ground reference frame from the first point to the second point assuming an absence of water current, the theoretical trajectory comprising a first theoretical path and a second theoretical path. A second step (204) includes computing a second path in the ground reference frame, and a third step includes (206) computing a corrected first path in a water reference. A fourth step includes (208) computing the trajectory in the ground reference frame from the first point to the second point based on the corrected first path and the second path.

An apparatus for determining an optimal route of a maritime ship comprises a database configured to store a service speed of the maritime ship. The apparatus further comprises a processor configured to generate a plurality of state nodes, to determine a plurality of time sets, to append the plurality of time sets to the plurality of state nodes to obtain a plurality of appended state nodes, to generate a plurality of edges based on the plurality of appended state nodes, to generate a graph based on the plurality of appended state nodes and the plurality of edges, to apply a preliminarily generated optimal route algorithm on the graph to obtain a preliminarily defined route path, and to apply a genetic algorithm based on the preliminarily defined route path to obtain the optimal route of the maritime ship.

An apparatus for determining an optimal route of a maritime ship comprises a database configured to store a service speed of the maritime ship. The apparatus further comprises a processor configured to generate a plurality of state nodes, to determine a plurality of time sets, to append the plurality of time sets to the plurality of state nodes to obtain a plurality of appended state nodes, to generate a plurality of edges based on the plurality of appended state nodes, to generate a graph based on the plurality of appended state nodes and the plurality of edges, to apply a preliminarily generated optimal route algorithm on the graph to obtain a preliminarily defined route path, and to apply a genetic algorithm based on the preliminarily defined route path to obtain the optimal route of the maritime ship.

Systems and methods for tracking vessel activities are described. An exemplar method of tracking vessel activities includes: (i) receiving data, using one or more devices, including vessel positioning data and/or time associated with one or more vessels traversing one or more paths on a body of water; (ii) deducing, using the data received from step (i), vessel attributes of one or more the vessels at certain positions and/or time along one or more of the paths; (iii) identifying, based on the vessel attributes of step (ii), one or more types of vessel activities of one or more of the vessels at the certain positions along one or more of the paths; (iv) parsing an electronic map of the body of water and land surrounding the body of water into discrete geographic zones; (v) grouping one or more types of vessel activities being carried out in each of the discrete geographic zones to arrive at one or more types of grouped vessel activities; (vi) causing to display or displaying one or more types of the grouped vessel activities that are being carried out in at least some of the discrete geographic zones.