Inspection Technologies

Emerging Inspection Technologies

The maritime industry’s interest in advanced inspection technologies is on the rise.  Increasing complexity of marine and offshore assets and associated operational activities are prompting a shift in how classification services are delivered.  ABS is helping to lead the way forward in applying these technologies to augment, and perhaps supplant, traditional class-related surveys or inspections going forward.

These inspection technologies include unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), crawlers, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), and wearable technologies.  Programmed to capture and share a richer array of information, these technologies support survey data sharing with people on the asset during the inspection – and with other team members, hundreds or thousands of miles away, real-time or near real-time.  These technologies can deliver significant enhancements in the efficacy of surveys while being less intrusive to the asset, decreasing asset operational down time and operational expenses while improving safety (for example, reduced exposure to potentially hazardous environments or reduced time working aloft).

ABS continues its cooperative industry research into these inspection technologies with the goal of improving internal practices and efficiencies, and the overall ABS inspection experience.  Leveraging less intrusive inspection options, combined with more effective data collection capabilities, will transform traditional inspection methodologies – shifting from prescriptive to a risk-based inspection regime –  and allow finite resources to focus on known problem areas.

ABS is leading classification into the digital future promoting innovation and applying advanced inspection technologies to enable a more predictive and less intrusive survey process, as well as a safer work environment.