Bureau Veritas completes first full remote ‘in-water’ hull survey with mini drone

The survey was completed on the ferry Bretagne, and was supervised by BV on behalf of the French flag state.
Underwater inspections of shipping vessels are a substitute for docking surveys at agreed intervals or occasional surveys of hull damage. This inspection was described by BV as “first of its kind”, with the test survey performed twice.
A remotely-operated drone performed an in-water survey with a BV surveyor onboard the vessel. In parallel, Bureau Veritas also tested the capability with its own remote inspection solutions using full HD live video footage from MaDfly. This enabled BV to carry out the survey remotely without any attended surveyor onboard with live streaming, as well as video and audio recording and photo options.

The class society reported reductions in preparation time with a single operator and limited equipment, high quality pictures from the drones used and reduced risk of disturbances to ship operations.
BV Marine & Offshore’s senior VP technical and operations, Laurent Leblanc said “Underwater remote surveys improve safety and reduce risk, time and costs to produce high-quality results. Maintaining the integrity and safety of a ship is a crucial task. Today, technology brings digital classification to another level, providing new opportunities and options to our clients.”

Brittany Ferries’ technical director Arnaud Le Poulichet said “Brittany Ferries has always invested in research and development and this partnership is a success. This underwater inspection with a mini ROV demonstrated the technical relevance of this method and reduced the inspection time.”