Remote Hull Inspection Saves $1 Million With The Elios 3

C-Bird recently conducted a hull inspection of a cargo ship using the Elios 3 drone. This approach not only ensured a safer operation but also significantly cut down on time and costs compared to traditional methods.

Key Benefits at a Glance

SAFETY - By deploying the Elios 3, there was no need for scaffolding inside the cargo tanks, eliminating approximately 10,000 hours of work at heights in confined spaces.

COST REDUCTION - Utilizing the Elios 3 instead of scaffolding for accessing hard-to-reach areas resulted in a direct financial saving of about $1 million during the vessel survey. This also brought considerable reductions in time and logistics expenses.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT - Using a drone for inspections prevented the creation of large volumes of oil-contaminated water that would require treatment before disposal.

IMPROVED DATA QUALITY - The onboard LiDAR on the Elios 3 enabled precise data localization and seamless sharing of findings with all relevant stakeholders.

More than 90% of the world's cargo-carrying vessels fall under the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) Common Structural Rules (CSR).

The CSR outlines standards for the design, construction, and ongoing operation of vessels, with specific criteria depending on the vessel classification.

Once a vessel is operational, it must renew its Class certification every five years. A crucial aspect of this renewal involves the Hull Survey, which assesses the structural integrity of the ship.

Crude oil tankers face some of the toughest Hull inspection requirements since much of the structure needing close-up examination is located inside the Cargo Oil Tanks (COT), with many critical areas unreachable by surveyors. This makes inspections particularly challenging. To access these hard-to-reach areas, vessel owners typically have to construct scaffolding or fill the tanks with water for rafting.

The sheer scale of a cargo tank is immense—scaffolding work here can rise tens of meters high, making detailed hull inspections quite challenging.

As vessels age, the scope and requirements of hull surveys increase. Vessels undergoing their third or fourth Special Periodical Survey (15 to 20 years old) can incur costs exceeding $1 million just to erect the necessary scaffolding for a hull inspection, which often accounts for a significant portion of the overall project cost to achieve Class renewal.

Setting up large amounts of scaffolding poses additional safety risks to personnel and operational risks to the vessel. A large workforce is exposed to working at height in confined spaces. Moreover, foreign objects like scaffold tubes, clips, or tools accidentally left in the tanks can get sucked into cargo pumps, causing damage and leading to unplanned outages once the vessel returns to service. On the other hand, rafting presents substantial safety and environmental challenges, including the disposal of vast quantities of oil-contaminated water.

Exploring an Alternative Inspection Workflow for Cargo Hull Inspections

A U.S.-based oil tanker fleet operator needed to conduct a No. 4 Special (20-year-old) periodic survey on one of its tankers. The 250-meter vessel, classed by The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), was being dry-docked in Southeast Asia to undergo its Class renewal as well as some other periodic maintenance work.

The tanker operator, a robotics innovation leader in the marine industry, had been using C-Bird's hull inspection services and had witnessed the class-approved capabilities of the Elios 2 for close-up surveys on their fleet for several years. This collaboration had already drastically reduced the need for scaffolding during Class renewal surveys.

The goal was to perform a hull survey on this ship using the Elios 3, minimizing or eliminating personnel entry into the hull to greatly reduce risks while still collecting all necessary data. Initially, there had been a plan to use a hull inspection ROV for the survey. However, C-Bird's experience with the Elios drones made it clear that drones were the better choice in this scenario.

Inspecting a Ship's Hull With the Elios 3 Drone

Although C-Bird pilot Malcolm Connolly had previously used an Elios 2 for similar projects, he opted for the new Elios 3 for this particular ship. He wanted to utilize the LiDAR live map on the Elios 3 to navigate in environments where he couldn't see the drone to guide it effectively. Malcolm was also testing the new UT payload for the Elios 3 to collect ultrasonic thickness measurements.

Malcolm of C-Bird guides the drone around the empty space during the hull inspection.

The drone was flown into the cargo tanks as part of the hull inspection without anyone entering the space. Malcolm navigated the drone around the entire hull, getting close to capture both 4K video footage and simultaneous 3D LiDAR scans of the structures. The data from these flights was then imported into Inspector 4 for processing.

Processing the data ensured there was no uncertainty regarding what the drone had surveyed or the location of any anomalies found—the entire space was recreated in 3D along with clear video footage.

The Elios 3 inspection with the LiDAR data alongside the visual feed.

How the Elios 3 Can Be Used for Hull Inspections in the Maritime Sector?

The Elios 3's 3D live map successfully assisted the C-Bird team in ensuring full coverage of the correct areas without needing to enter the COTs from the safety of the ship's deck. Besides eliminating confined space entry, the mission's safety and efficiency were further improved by not having to haul equipment in or out of the tanks, thus reducing the risk of dropped objects and minimizing manual handling requirements, including vessel crew support, while cutting down the time needed to set up for each cargo tank.

Malcolm Connolly, CEO and founder of C-Bird, remarked, "The 3D laser scan produced by the Elios 3 allows for accurate localization of data. This brings the entire survey process one step closer to true risk-based asset management and eventual automation. The ability to reliably localize data means you can repeat the survey precisely, measure any state of change between surveys, and potentially model rates of degradation with machine learning to predict the optimal maintenance intervention point. This is the direction in which the marine and many other industries are heading!"

Malcolm emphasized several key benefits of using the Elios 3 for the hull inspection, including:

⦁ Full data coverage with the 3D live map guarantees that surveyors covered all required areas in the tank despite its large size and uniform features.

⦁ Enhanced safety through reduced human entry into confined and elevated spaces.

⦁ Cost savings—drone inspections eliminated the need for scaffolding or prolonged downtime.

⦁ Operating in high temperatures—the environment reached 45 degrees Celsius, and the Elios 3 handled this environment admirably.

Making Cargo Vessel Hull Inspections Easier With Drone Surveys

Thanks to the Elios 3, C-Bird was able to conduct a safer, faster, and more efficient hull inspection. By avoiding the need for scaffolding, over 10,000 hours of work at heights were saved.

C-Bird and their client both appreciated the simplified logistics of the overall project and highlighted the environmental impact as this avoided the need to potentially contaminate water for a rafting-based inspection. They also recognized the drone’s utility as an alternative to completing hull inspections with an underwater ROV.

The Elios 3 and its 3D map provided inspectors with sufficient data for the Class renewal through accurate data localization, helping them identify points of interest. This contributed to the success of the project as the ship was successfully recertified. The overall case study presented by C-Bird demonstrates how the continuous advancement of drone technology is enhancing the capabilities of drones in ways that meet the needs of the marine and maritime industries.

 

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