Surveyors DNV GL have carried out the first offshore drone survey on the semisubmersible vessel Safe Scandinavia in the North Sea.
The 25,000 tonne tender support vessel (TSV) is owned and operated by Prosafe, supporting Statoil’s drilling operations off the coast of Norway.
Using camera-equipped drones, DNV GL’s drone pilots checked the TSV’s fairleads and their connection with the vessel’s two columns as part of the intermediate survey.
said: “Innovation is one of Prosafe’s core values.
Ian Young, chief operating officer at Prosafe, said: “Innovation is one of Prosafe’s core values.
“We are very pleased that we chose to try the drone survey, as it helped us optimize our survey requirements and allowed us to save significant amounts of time and money.
“Normally, this kind of operation would cause disruption to our client for several days. The drone survey took only a few hours and was just as effective.”
The classification society has carried out multiple drone surveys on both ships and offshore units, inspecting many areas on board, ranging from tanks and cargo holds to external structures such as jack-up legs.
The inspection of such spaces can be both costly and time consuming, and even in some instances potentially dangerous. Using drones to visually check the condition of remote structural components can significantly reduce survey times and staging costs, while at the same time improving safety.
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