Darkocean Launches AI-Powered Marine Mapping Agent for Rapid Coastal Assessment

Darkocean announced NAVBathy, an AI-driven marine mapping agent that produces large-scale relative bathymetry in seconds using low-resolution satellite imagery. Early results demonstrate NAVBathy's capability to cover roughly 70% of Qatar's coastline and map nearly 100 kilometers of adjacent marine areas, delivering fast, actionable depth information for project planning and risk reduction.

NAVBathy scouts suitable satellite imagery and generates consistent relative depth models at speeds and scales not previously achievable with traditional surveying methods. The system provides planners, engineers, and marine operators with immediate situational awareness of seabed conditions, enabling better-informed decisions during early project phases and helping to avoid costly surprises during execution. By focusing on relative bathymetry, NAVBathy complements, rather than replaces, high-precision hydrographic surveys, offering a rapid screening layer that highlights areas requiring detailed follow-up.

Neha Supekar, AI Solution Architect at Darkocean, stated that the ability to generate accurate, large-scale relative depth maps within seconds transforms how coastal projects are scoped and risk-assessed. NAVBathy gives teams an instant, evidence-based view of underwater terrain so they can prioritize detailed surveys, optimize logistics, and reduce schedule risk, especially in regions where traditional survey resources are limited.

NAVBathy's approach relies on advanced machine learning models trained to interpret data and signals from low-resolution satellite data to infer relative seabed depth across wide areas. In the Qatar demonstration, within few seconds, NAVBathy successfully mapped extensive shoreline stretches and nearshore zones, providing a clear operational picture across channels, shoals, and shallow shelves. The product is designed to integrate with existing GIS and marine planning tools, offering exportable layers, time-series comparisons, and change detection to support environmental monitoring, dredging planning, coastal development, and emergency response.

Darkocean emphasizes that NAVBathy should be used as an early-stage planning and reconnaissance tool. For projects requiring precise absolute depths for navigation or regulatory compliance, targeted in-situ hydrographic surveys remain essential. NAVBathy helps reduce the footprint and cost of those surveys by focusing resources where detailed measurement is most needed. The company's technology represents a significant advancement in marine geospatial capabilities, as detailed on their website.