Hidden beneath the surface is the ship's hull, an important element in ensuring that a ship functions efficiently. Material failure, corrosion, and unidentified structural defects can lead to disaster, making frequent ship hull inspections important. The traditional method of inspection, using human divers, is time-consuming and expensive and puts the divers at risk. Underwater inspections provided by Engineers with Drones helps you assess a ship's hull and spot structural failure using non-destructive underwater drones, faster and safer.
Drones capture high-quality, impartial information that gives you an exact assessment of the status and needs of your asset.
Downtime is expensive and inconvenient. Using a drone, our engineers can conduct a thorough survey with little to no downtime.
The safety of your personnel and our own is paramount, and we place it at the forefront of our company culture. Ask us about our HSSE systems and practices.
We use cutting-edge technologies to detect problems that would otherwise be invisible. These include 4K ultra-HD photography/video, LIDAR and thermal imaging.
Drones aren't just for flying up in the sky. Our specialist drones can fly into confined spaces like chimneys and boilers to look for issues that would otherwise be inaccessible.
We understand that you need answers fast. We can deliver a plain-English report with clear-cut conclusions in days. Then, you can take the steps you need to and get back to doing what you do best.
Drone technology is cheaper, safer and more reliable than traditional methods such as scaffolding, cherry-pickers and ropes. It's also quicker and less labour-intensive. We will bring everything we need and be out of your way that same day.
Sometimes the brief can change even in real-time. If need be, you can be stood there right next to the drone operator, directing them as the situation develops.
The hull paint is an important protective element in helping ships deal with changing water temperatures, currents, biofouling and sea environments. If your ship's hull is not properly protected, these changing conditions can cause structural damage.
Our ship hull inspection service helps our clients track the status of their vessel's hull. The build-up of plants, algae and other sea organisms (also called biofouling) can hinder your ship's performance. Even ships treated with antifouling paint need regular inspection to ensure no areas have been compromised and that the paint is holding up. The advantage of ship hull inspections using drones is that you can compare, track and inspect points of interest up close, allowing you to determine when to recoat the paint.
Traditional inspection methods require the use of multiple divers. One of the divers will take up the role of "main diver" and the others will be in supporting roles. During an inspection, they may need to switch roles depending on the circumstances. Divers have to take breaks. This can slow down the process. Many divers can be replaced by one submersible drone.
Underwater drone inspections eliminate the need for human divers, minimizing the risks associated with traditional ship hull inspections. The port is a busy place with a lot of traffic from other vessels, causing a huge risk of ships colliding with a diver. Anchoring ships a mile from the port to mitigate this risk exposes the divers to the dangers of strong currents and being carried deeper into the ocean. Our underwater drones can navigate these strong currents safely. The rapid pressurization and depressurization caused by diving to 12 meters and deeper also take their toll on divers, often causing decompression sickness (also known as the bends). Our drone can go up and down all day.
Ultra high-definition cameras and thermal imagery allow our engineers to compile highly detailed, actionable data that is invisible to the naked eye. This saves further time in the repair or replacement of ship components. Tradespeople and other personnel on-site can be directed to areas of concern with pinpoint accuracy and with all the information they need. These reports can also be shared digitally with anyone else that may need to examine them. For example, with stakeholders and insurance companies.
Our drones (and our people) can offer a lot more than just HD images. Our team all come from specialist engineering backgrounds, and they use all the very latest drone technologies and capabilities to deliver expert analysis on all types of commercial, civil and industrial assets. If you need an engineer's expertise, next-generation drone technology and industry-leading deliverables, then you've come to the right place.
Capture high-quality imagery of your assets from never before seen vantage points.
Find out moreDetect abnormalities within your assets that are otherwise invisible to the naked eye.
Find out moreCapture a high-resolution, photorealistic 3D model of your terrain, accurate to the finest details.
Find out moreMitigate the risk factors of traditional confined space inspections, without compromising on quality.
Find out more
UHD or Ultra High Definition signifies that a camera's resolution is 3840x2160 pixels. This is exactly four time higher than high definition cameras (1920x1080 pixels), and so UHD is often also know as 4K. More about drone photography...