Asset management: Drones deployed for offshore remote inspections
By Eloise McMinn Mitchell, Flyability
Drone inspections are literally taking off in the offshore industry. While some still view drones as recreational toys, there are now hundreds of service providers worldwide that use drones for industrial inspections. The benefits of this remote technology are hard to overstate: a simple ship hull survey could save as much as $1 million using drone inspections, with savings coming from improved safety standards, eliminating unnecessary scaffolding and faster data collection.
For offshore inspections, the Swiss-designed Elios 3 drone sits in a protective cage, allowing the drone to fly in confined spaces without collisions taking it out of the air. Produced by Flyability, this drone has a modular design enabling it to carry specialized payloads. In a single mission, the drone can simultaneously gather 4K video, centimeter-accurate LiDAR scans and ultrasonic-thickness measurements.
Elios 3 is in use across six continents with thousands of flights taking place every year. The drone can provide remote access to complex spaces for safer non-destructive testing and asset management.
FPSO oil tank inspections
UK-based inspection, engineering and service provider TEXO was called to do an inspection where it deployed the Elios 3 drone to inspect oil tanks on an FPSO, with the aim to streamline inspection processes and improve safety standards. The drone was used to inspect oil tanks one week after they had been emptied and cleaned. In the past, inspecting a tank of this size could take between seven and 10 days and require up to four or five rope access technicians.
The service provider deploying the drone for this project knew they could work faster with the Elios 3. The inspection was completed in just four days by a team of two people. This smaller team is vital to optimizing the people on board the FPSO and ensuring work around the inspection can continue as normal without staff shortages due to large inspection teams.
Assessing 63 tanks in two weeks
In a similar application, the Elios 3 drone and its predecessor model Elios 2 were deployed at a TLWP-type rig offshore Brazil in 2024. A naval engineering specialist contacted drone service provider TDBR Brazil as they were interested in drone tank inspections. This is because it requires fewer inspection staff and no scaffolding, unlike traditional inspection methods. Minimizing the number of inspectors means fewer people on site, which requires less balancing between inspectors, regular staff and the regulatory limit of people on board.
Over the course of 14 days, the inspectors flew 88 separate flights in and around 63 tanks. They had more than 10 hours of flight time using both drones. This was significantly faster than traditional methods as the drone inspection requires no scaffolding, allowing inspectors to capture detailed information and assess multiple tanks per day. In addition, due to use of the drone, there was minimal to no confined space entry for inspectors, reducing the risks to workers and also speeding up the process as fewer licenses may be required for work.
Looking ahead
The Elios 3 is a small drone, measuring just 60x60 cm. Now equipped with a UT payload, multiple service providers that use the drone have been class-approved by different class societies, signaling an increasing acceptance of drone technology in the offshore sector. Drone inspections are going to become standard; it is simply a question of who will be first to adopt the technology or not.
