Use BoatVision alongside your own observations
BoatVision processes your camera’s video and shows outlines and visual alerts on a compatible helm screen or multifunction display (MFD) to help you assess what is ahead. You make the decisions and handle the boat. BoatVision is not an autopilot or a collision-avoidance system. It does not control, steer, slow, or stop the boat.
Keep a proper lookout
Keep watching and listening all around the boat, using all available means appropriate to the conditions. A forward camera cannot cover everything around you. BoatVision does not replace the captain, crew, or a proper lookout. Follow the navigation rules that apply where you operate, including the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGs), applicable U.S. inland rules, and local requirements.
Keep using your navigation and safety equipment
Continue using the navigation and safety equipment appropriate to your boat and the trip. That may include official charts, GPS, radar, depth instruments, sonar, and AIS, which shares vessel identity and position information. You still need navigation lights, communications equipment, required safety equipment, and established procedures.
Allow for the camera’s limits and the conditions
BoatVision’s Maritime AI Models can only check the view supplied by the camera. The camera model, mounting position, setup, lens condition, and maintenance all matter. So do software settings and version, and the size and distance of an object. Glare, fog, rain, spray, darkness, waves, vibration, and boat movement can make objects harder to see or identify. Night display mode only dims the helm screen; what the system can find after dark depends on the camera and conditions. BoatVision does not measure depth or detect hazards hidden below the surface.
An alert is a reason to look more closely
BoatVision can miss an object, lose track of it, label it incorrectly, or show a false alert. An outline on your screen or MFD means you should look more closely and assess the situation for yourself. It does not confirm an object’s identity, course, or risk, establish another vessel’s intentions, or tell you which navigation rule applies. A display with no alerts does not mean the water ahead is clear.
Keep looking for a person in the water
A person can be hard to spot because of distance, waves, light, weather, clothing, movement, or a blocked camera view. BoatVision can miss someone. Never rely on it as your only way to find a person, and do not wait for an alert before responding to someone you see. Follow appropriate recovery, communications, and emergency procedures.
Make time and room to respond
Choose a safe speed that gives you time and room to respond. Allow for visibility, traffic, wind, waves, current, water depth, and how your boat handles. As captain or operator, you remain responsible for navigation, boat handling, a proper lookout, following the rules, and the people aboard. Use BoatVision alongside your own observations and navigation equipment. It does not guarantee detection or collision avoidance.