Adding protective gear is the next step. “We have to fly the drones close to ship structures, therefore we developed a special cage for the DJI Phantom drone. And we equipped the Custom drone with a protective wire to shield its propellers, the camera and the lighting systems we attach to it to enable it to operate in dark spaces,” says Alba. Galinski’s team has also fitted the Custom drone with a zoom camera. This means that instead of having to fly within distances as short as one metre from the structure, the drone can take high-definition images from further away.
DNV GL’s first offshore drone survey This is particularly important when surveyors fly the drone on the open ocean, and has proved to be incremental to the success of DNV GL’s first offshore drone survey, which was carried out on the semisubmersible vessel Safe Scandinavia in July 2017 (scan QR code to watch the video). This tender support vessel (TSV) owned and operated by Prosafe supports Statoil’s drilling operations off the coast of Norway. “It was a great opportunity for us to demonstrate our drone’s ability to check the condition of remote external components in challenging offshore conditions. The inspection only required the semi-submersible to deballast. We flew
“A surveyor has to be able to touch a surface to check the condition of the material. So instead of taking the surveyor to the component, we bring the component to the surveyor, on
4k, high-definition video.” Cezary Galinski, Senior Principal Surveyor and Head of the DNV GL Drone Squad
the drone approximately 25 metres below the main deck to check the condition of the fairleads and their connections to the columns that hold up the TSV. With wind speeds of about 15 knots, this went very well and the survey showed that the fairleads and their connections were in a good condition,” says Galinski.
It was a first for the owner Prosafe as well. “Innovation is one of our core values. We are very pleased to have chosen to try the drone survey, as it helped us optimize our survey requirements and allowed us to save significant amounts of time and money.
> Photos: DNV GL
i
DRONE TYPE INFO _____________________
DJI PHANTOM
The DJI Phantom drone can operate for about 20 minutes and is lighter than the Custom drone. It is used for external
surveys but can also be flown inside spaces such as tanks. When fitted with its protective shield it is more resistant to damage.
The Report • March 2018 • Issue 83 | 63
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