“Remote service delivery will become a part of everyday life for us. The capability does not replace our surveyors but allows speed of access and connectivity between teams and stakeholders to enable decisions to be made quickly and with confidence.”
Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore has opened its first remote survey centre, located in the major maritime hub of Rotterdam. The centre is focused on supporting remote service delivery capability and is part of BV’s North European Zone head office and BV’s Zone Marine Operations Centre.
Laurent Leblanc again says, “This is a new and important milestone in the Bureau Veritas global strategy of Digital Classification using digital technologies to transform the operating model of classification for the benefits of its clients.”
BV has conducted a full program of tests and proof of concepts confirming that the relevant technologies are now mature enough to enable remote surveys. Technologies used include optimised live-streaming solutions; connected devices (smart phones, tablets, Go-Pro cameras, smart glasses, augmented reality); and connectivity on board – with improvements from 4G networks and 5G yet to be realised.
Significant benefits to clients include speed of response and no travel or waiting time; optimisation in the decision-making process
thanks to live-streaming solutions; continuous improvement in the quality of service; and cost control through overall reductions in travel time and arrangements.
Herman Spilker, vice president of the North Europe Zone for BV, commented: “The remote service delivery is led by a team of experienced surveyors and follows eight years of development experience. In 2012 we started developing the procedures allowing administrative verifications to be conducted remotely, Bureau Veritas is now able to offer a comprehensive range of survey items which can be performed remotely. The applicable survey items include classification surveys and specific statutory items which can be agreed by flag administrations.”
DNV GL reports it has seen a surge in remote surveys as vessel owners leverage the greater flexibility and efficiency they provide and the impact of the global COVID-19 crisis has reinforced the value of remote survey services. Remote surveys are not new for DNV GL with some 15,000 surveys and inspections undertaken since the launch in October 2018.
DNV GL stresses the importance to their customers to continue to operate and deliver without disruptions to class services, and at the same time without compromising the safety of crews and surveyors. Remote surveys have provided the flexibility customers need, with global round the clock coverage, and improved efficiency through reduced travel times and increased availability.
“In these challenging times we are seeing the benefits of the full scope of digitalization initiatives that we have been building up over the past few years,” says Knut Ørbeck- Nilssen, CEO, DNV GL – Maritime. “The use of remote surveys has meant that we have been able to limit disruption to customer operations resulting from travel bans or quarantines involving our
40 | The Report • September 2020 • Issue 93
surveyors. Ship operators are able to receive immediately updated and verified electronic certificates, which make their business dealing with class, authorities and vendors much more efficient. This has all been backed by expert teams in the regions and through our DATE hubs, which cover technical and survey requests around the globe 24/7 and have solved 500,000 cases since the launch of the service five years ago.”
Remote surveys were first rolled out by DNV GL in October of 2018 and have been gaining in popularity ever since. In 2019, for some survey types, up to 25% of all surveys were conducted remotely, with more than one third of customers having utilised the service at least once.
DNV GL says that with its new remote approach to machinery planned maintenance, Machinery Maintenance Connect (MMC), instead of requiring surveyors to travel to each individual vessel and go onboard, machinery data can be processed via algorithms and presented to customers on a digital dashboard. This enables the survey of a complete fleet in one process, while unlocking new insights into vessel and fleet performance.
“Once we have the verified data, to get going with MMC we sit down with management for an initial company audit that also functions as their annual survey,” says Rolf Petter Hancke, Surveyor and Principal Engineer at DNV GL. “This reduces the time required significantly, in one case we completed surveys on 49 vessels in roughly four hours, something that would normally take 50 separate onboard surveyor visits. And the data is all right there – easily and directly accessible by management in real time.”
So there you have it. Irrefutable evidence it would seem and like it or not, remote surveys are happening and are here to stay. A giant step for the marine surveying profession or fool’s gold? Let’s discuss and debate!
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